Even Angels Fall
by whitter23
Summary: Allie Winchester has grown up hunting monsters beside her two brothers, Sam and Dean. After Dean returns from Hell, the three siblings find themselves up against something they have never seen before: angels. And Allie secretly longs for one of them.
1. Hell's Bells

_Okay, so this is my attempt at a Supernatural fan-fic. I know I won't do the show any justice, but I love it and I am enjoying writing this. I have a good idea where this will go, since I am mostly sticking to the storyline. Eventually, I will change a bit here and there. I am starting right after Dean goes to Hell, and then jumping to when he comes back. I hope everyone likes it. Let me know what you think, even if you think it is absolutely dreadful. I want to know what all of you think._

_P.S. I won't probably be able to update this very often, since I am in my senior year of nursing school and am job hunting. I have about - that much free time, but I will do my best, especially with winter break coming up._

_So, enjoy!  
_

Allie Winchester could not move. She just stared at the wooden cross in front of her, marking her older brother's grave. Dean was gone, and she hadn't saved him as she had promised. After everything Allie had done, Lilith had still won out. And Allie hadn't even been there when Lilith had finally gotten to Dean. Sam and Dean had sent her off with Bobby to help ward off the demon army guarding Lilith. She blamed herself for his death, though she knew that Dean would kick her ass for thinking that way. But right now, she felt like the entire world was crashing down around her. Now it was just her and her twin brother, Sam, and she felt him slipping through her fingers, too.

"Allie," Sam said, wrapping an arm around his sister's shoulders. "It's time to go." He gently led her away from the grave toward the black Impala. Dean's baby.

Their good friend, Bobby Singer, gave them both a hug before getting into his own rusty old car. Allie climbed into the passenger seat. It felt wrong, being in this old car, without Dean in the driver's seat, a classic rock song pumping through the speakers.

"I should have been there," Allie said into the silence of the car as Sam pulled out onto the blacktop.

"Lilith would have killed you, too," Sam replied, his voice cold.

Yeah, I know, Allie thought to herself.

* * *

Four Months Later

Allie's cell phone rang on the seat next to her. She checked the caller ID, hoping it would be Sam. But it wasn't him.

"Hey, Bobby," she said as she answered. "I just finished that last case. I'm on my way back to your place now."

"How far away are you?" Bobby asked.

"About half an hour. Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, but I've got something here that you really need to see."

"Okay, I'll get there as soon as I can."

She hung up and threw the phone back down on the seat, pressing harder on the gas. She made it to Bobby's in eighteen minutes. Luck was on her side that she didn't see any cops along the way.

"Hey, Bobby!" she called as she let herself in the front door. She knew she didn't need to knock. Bobby had let her stay in the extra bedroom for a while after Dean's death, and she had practically moved in with him since.

"Back here, Allie," Bobby's gruff voice called from the back of the house. He was in the library, of course. It was always either the library or the kitchen.

Allie froze as she rounded the corner to the library. Standing next to Bobby was a figure she thought that she would never see again. She should have been happy to see him, but she couldn't be. Because it was impossible for him to be standing in front of her. They had buried him four months ago. He was gone.

"Hey, sis," he said with his typical cocky grin.

"Dean?" Allie gasped. "This-this isn't possible." She reached for the silver knife in her belt. "What the hell are you?"

"Allie," Bobby said soothingly. "I ran all the tests. It's really him."

"I don't understand. Sam and I buried you four months ago."

"Yeah, I know. I'm still a little cloudy on the details myself."

Allie suddenly felt overjoyed. Dean was back. For just one second, she didn't worry about how that was even possible. All that mattered was that he was alive and with her. She crossed the floor in a flash and wrapped him in a tight hug. Tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"I can't believe you're back," she said.

"Me either. Allie." He pulled away from her. "Have you heard from Sam at all?"

"A couple of weeks ago. He just calls in every month or so to tell me that he's alive, to make sure I'm okay, and he always uses pay phones so I can't get track his cell. Why?"

"We think he might have had something to with this," Dean replied.

"What, like a deal? Like you did?"

"Yeah. We have to find him." He moved around to the other side of the desk and picked up Bobby's house phone. He punched in a number.

"What are you doing, Dean?"

"Calling the phone company."

"Okay." Allie wasn't quite sure where he was going with this, but she knew never to doubt her older brother.

"Yeah, hi. I, uh, have a cell phone account with you guys and I, uh, lost my phone. I was wondering if you could turn the GPS on for me…Name's Wedge Antilles…social's 2474…Thank you." He hung up the phone and walked over to the computer in the library.

"How'd you know he'd use that name?" Bobby asked.

"Are you kidding me? What don't I know about that kid?" Dean replied.

Allie shook her head as her brother typed something into the computer. It didn't come as a surprise that he would think of something like that; he was pretty much the best hunter in the world.

"Hey, Bobby?" Dean said, picking up an empty whiskey bottle. "What's the deal with the liquor store? Your parents outta town or something?"

"Like I said," Bobby replied, shaking his head. "These last few months ain't been all that easy."

Allie put a hand on the old man's shoulder. She knew what he meant. All of them had handled Dean's death in their own way. Sam had taken off on his own, trying to find a way to bring Dean back, then hunting down Lilith to get revenge. Bobby started drinking more than usual, diving off the deep end straight into a bottle of whiskey. And Allie hunted. It was the only thing she knew; it was all she had ever known. It eased the pain of losing Dean and not knowing where Sam was or what he was doing.

"Right," Dean said quietly. He turned back to the computer.

"Anything?" Allie asked and moved around to the other side of the desk. Dean looked puzzled.

"Sam's in Pontiac, Illinois," he stated.

"Right where you were planted," Bobby said, confused.

"Right where I popped up. Hell of a coincidence, don't you think?" He sounded very angry now. This gave them even more reason to believe that Sam had something to do with Dean's spectacular come back. Allie knew that Dean would kill Sam himself if the younger Winchester brother made a deal with a demon.

"Dammit, Sam," Allie cursed under her breath.

"I'm gonna kick his ass," Dean growled. "As soon as I take a shower."

* * *

They pulled up to the Astoria Hotel in Pontiac. Allie wasn't sure what to expect, from either of her brothers. She eyed Dean carefully as they approached room 207, before turning her attention to the heart-shaped plaque on the door. Dean knocked on the door, and the three of them were all in for a surprise when a dark-haired young woman opened the door, wearing only a tank top and underwear.

"So where is it?" she asked the puzzled trio.

Bobby and Dean exchanged looks. "Where's what?" Dean asked.

"The pizza that takes three people to deliver?"

"I think we've got the wrong room."

Just then, the tall frame of the third Winchester sibling came out of the bathroom. He stopped short at the sight of his supposedly dead brother, alive and in perfect condition. Sam glanced at Allie, then Bobby, and then back to Dean. Allie noticed that he didn't seem to be breathing.

"Hey, Sammy," Dean said.

Sam opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Dean cautiously approached his brother. Out of nowhere, Sam pulled out a knife and lunged at Dean. The girl screamed, and Bobby sprang into action, as Sam forced Dean back against the wall.

"Sam, no!" Allie cried, but Bobby managed to pull the taller Winchester back.

"Who are you?" Sam bellowed.

"Like you didn't do this?" Dean shouted back angrily. Allie could see his rage rising.

"Dean, calm down!" she yelled, stepping in front of him, hoping that maybe they wouldn't try to knock each other if she was between them.

"Do what?" Sam asked loudly, struggling against Bobby's arms.

"It's him," Bobby said calmly. "It's him, Sam. I've been through this already. It's really him."

"What…" Sam said as he stopped struggling.

"I know," Dean said moving closer to Sam. "I look fantastic, huh?"

Smartass, Allie thought to herself with a smile. Dean always had to come up with some punch line to lighten the mood. She turned her attention over to Sam. He looked like he felt the same way she had when she first found out her brother was back…and like he was on the verge of tears. That wasn't surprising. It seemed like Sam and Dean cried more than most men…but then again, they witnessed things that most men could never even dream of. Then Sam pulled Dean into a tight hug.

"So are you two, like…together?" They all turned to the girl, who had been momentarily forgotten in the chaos.

"What?" Sam asked. "No, no. He's my brother." He smiled for the first time since the others had arrived.

"O-oh," she stuttered. Got it, I guess. Look, I should probably go."

"Uh, yeah, yeah," Sam agreed uneasily. "That's probably a good idea."

Allie could sense that something was off with her twin brother, the way her was suddenly acting. Dean, of course, being the ladies' man that he was, gave the girl his best smile. The girl got dressed and Sam showed her to the door. Dean watched the two, while Allie uncomfortably stared ahead of her at the ugly tiger-skin pattern on the walls.

"So call me," the girl told Sam.

"Yeah, sure thing, Kathy," Sam replied.

"Chrissy," the girl corrected. Allie glanced at her, taking in look of heartbreak etched on her face.

"Right," Sam replied.

The girl gave him a sad smile and walked away. Now Allie knew that something was up. Sam was not the type of guy to jump into bed with just anyone and then forget their name. That was something Dean would do. There was definitely more to this story than Sam was letting on.

"So, tell me," Dean said as Sam sat down on the bed and started pulling on his shoes. "What did it cost?"

"What? The girl?" Sam snorted. "I don't pay Dean."

"It's not funny, Sam." He paused and glared at his younger brother. Bobby and Allie sat quietly on the big, ugly, gold armchair, watching the two brothers closely, in case they went after each other again. "To bring me back. What did it cost? Was it just your soul or something worse?"

"You think I made a deal?" Sam asked incredulously.

"That's exactly what we think," Bobby replied.

"You too, Al?" Sam asked his sister.

"All signs point to yes," she answered.

"Well, I didn't."

"Don't lie to me," Dean said through gritted teeth.

"I'm not lying."

Allie could see the anger bubbling rapidly within Dean. He was about to explode. "Dean," she said calmly. She was trying to keep him calm. She had both her brothers back, which had seemed beyond impossible only that morning. She was angry at Sam for leaving her, but she still didn't want their reunion to turn ugly.

"So what, I'm off the hook and you're on? Is that it?" Dean continued, ignoring his sister. "You're some demon's bitch boy? I didn't want to be saved like this!"

Sam stood up, obviously angry that his brother didn't believe him. "Dean, I wish I had done it, alright?"

Dean grabbed Sam by the collar of his shirt and shook him slightly. Allie and Bobby both jumped up, ready to intervene if necessary.

"There's no other way this could have gone down," Dean said. "Now tell the truth!"

Sam shoved his brother away. "I tried everything, that's the truth! I tried opening the Devil's Gate. Hell, I tried bargaining, but no demon would deal, alright?" He paused to take a breath. "You were rotting in Hell for months, for _months_, and I couldn't stop it. So I'm sorry it wasn't me, alright? Dean, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Sammy," Dean said, shaken. "You don't have to apologize. I believe you."


	2. Blinded by the Light

_Okay, so here is chapter two. The first chapter did pretty good, but I would really appreciate some reviews. I'm trying to use song titles for each chapter. The title of the story is actually a song from the movie "10 Things I Hate About" by Jessica Riddle. I thought it fit perfectly._

_So anyway, here you go. Enjoy!_

_

* * *

_

They four of them all sat in silence for several moments. They were all thinking the same thing.

"Don't get me wrong," Bobby said. "I'm gladdened Sam's soul is intact, but it does raise a sticky question."

"If he didn't pull me out, what did?" Dean continued Bobby's thought.

"Whatever it is, it's damn powerful," Allie stated. "I think we're in over our heads, here."

They all sat in silence for a few minutes. None of them had any idea what could possibly have yanked Dean out of the pit.

"I think I need a beer," Sam said. "Anyone else?" They all said yes and he went to the kitchenette to grab four beers. They all sat down when Sam handed them each a bottle.

"So what were you doing around here if you weren't digging up my grave?" Dean asked.

"Well, once I figured out I couldn't save you, I started hunting down Lilith to get some payback."

"All by yourself," Bobby said. "Who do you think you are, your old man?"

Something caught Dean's eye and he got up from his seat on the coffee table to check it out.

"I'm sorry, Bobby. I should have called. I was pretty messed up."

"Oh yeah," Dean said sarcastically, holding up a lacy bra. "I really feel your pain."

"Anyways, I was checking these demons out in Tennessee and, outta nowhere, they took a hard left and booked it up here."

"When?" Dean asked.

"Yesterday morning."

"When I busted out."

"You think these demons are here cause of you?" Bobby asked.

"It's definitely a possibility," Allie agreed.

"But why?" Sam asked.

"Well, I don't know," Dean said. "Some badass demon drags me out and now this. It's gotta be connected somehow."

"How you feeling anyway?" Bobby asked.

"I'm a little hungry."

"No, I mean, you feel like yourself? Anything strange or different?"

"Or demonic?" Dean asked scathingly. "Bobby, how many times do I have to prove I'm me?"

Sam tried to catch Allie's eye, but she refused to look at him. He had left her alone without so much as a word. He had a lot to make up for.

"Well, listen," said Bobby. "No demon's letting you loose outta the goodness of their heart. They gotta have something nasty planned."

"Well, I feel fine," Dean replied.

"Well, we don't know what they're planning, but we got a pile of questions and no shovel," Sam said. "We need help."

It seemed weird for Allie to hear that phrase come from either of her brothers. It wasn't often that they wanted help from others. This time, however, it didn't seem like they had much of a choice.

"I know a psychic a few hours from here," Bobby said. "Something this big, maybe she heard the other side talking."

"Well, it's worth a shot," Dean replied, perking up.

"I'll be right back." Bobby stepped out into the hallway to call this psychic friend of his.

"Do you think she'll be able to figure this out?" Allie asked hopefully. She couldn't help herself, but all she could picture in her head was a little, old gypsy woman.

"I hope so," Dean replied, getting up.

"Hey, wait," Sam said to his brother. "You probably want this back." He pulled something from around his neck and handed it to Dean. Allie recognized it as the amulet that Sam had given to Dean one year for Christmas when they were kids. He had intended it to be a gift for John, but when John didn't show up, Dean tried to salvage it by stealing someone else's presents and pretending they were from John. So instead, Sam gave it the amulet to Dean as a thank you, and Dean had never once taken it off since.

"Thanks," Dean said.

"Don't mention it."

"Aww, tender moment," Allie said, trying to lighten the mood.

They both shot dirty looks in their sister's direction as Dean slipped the necklace over his head.

"Hey, Dean, what was it like?" Sam inquired. Allie knew what he meant and stiffened. This probably wasn't the best time to discuss Dean's tour in Hell.

"What, Hell?" Dean asked. "I don't know. I, I, uh, must have blacked it out. I don't remember a damn thing."

Sam and Dean had never been able to lie to Allie. She had a knack for reading people and tended to pick up on things they did when they lie. For instance, Sam's nostrils flared when he wasn't being honest, while Dean's voice got just a bit deeper. And Dean's voice, had in fact dropped in tone a bit. But she wasn't worried much about it; he obviously wasn't ready to talk about it. And Allie didn't blame him. Why would anyone want to talk about being in Hell for four months?

"Thank God for that," Sam said, believing Dean's lie.

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "I'm, uh, I'm just gonna use the bathroom.

"So," Sam said turning to Allie as the bathroom door closed behind Dean. "How have you been?"

"Really, Sam?" she replied. "That's it? You take off on me after Dean dies, only calling three or four times in all those months, and now all you have to say is 'how have you been?'"

"I know, Al, but I was really messed up."

"And you think I wasn't, Sam?" She took a deep breath trying to calm herself. "Look, I know Dean's death was hard on you, but it was hard on me, too. I lost Dean, too, and then you took off on me. Yes, I still had Bobby at least, but then he took a nosedive into a bottle of whiskey. How do you think I felt?"

"I'm sorry, Allie. I wish I could take it all back, but I can't."

"Yeah, you're right. You can't."

Bobby came back in the room as Sam started to say something else. "Good news," he said. "My friend, Pamela, agreed to help us."

Dean came out of the bathroom. Allie noticed that he looked pale and not quite himself. She was a little scared for him.

"Dean? You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine," he replied. Allie again could tell that he was lying through his teeth, though anyone else would have believed him. But, again, God only knew what he had been through. She didn't want to push the issue.

"We're leaving," Sam said.

"She's about four hours down the interstate," Bobby said as they went out to the parking lot. "Try to keep up." He climbed into his old rusty Camaro.

"I assume you want to drive," Sam said, tossing the keys to Dean as the shiny black Impala came into view ahead.

Dean's face lit up at the sight of his baby. "I almost forgot. Hey, sweetheart, you miss me?" he said to the car before climbing into the driver's seat. He sighed, content to be back behind the wheel of his car. But then his face fell as he noticed the iPod connected to the radio. "What the hell is that?"

"That's an iPod jack," Sam clarified.

"You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up."

"I thought it was my car."

Dean shook his head and started the car. As the engine roared to life, a terrible song started pumping through the speakers. Dean turned to Sam again, a furious look on his face. "Really?"

Sam just shrugged. Dean ripped the iPod out and threw it over his shoulder into the back seat, nearly hitting Allie with it. She laughed at the argument between her brothers. It was the first time she had really laughed since Dean had been mauled by Lilith's Hellhounds.

"What's so funny?" Sam asked her.

"You two," she replied. "It's nice to hear you two argue over something stupid again."

"Hey, that's too much of a chick flick moment," Dean complained. "No chick flick moments."

"Fine, jerk," Allie replied with a giggle.

"Bitch," Dean countered.

* * *

Four hours later, they arrived at Pamela's. She was great, except for the fact that she didn't even attempt to hide her affections for the Winchester boys. She decided to hold a séance to try and figure out what they were dealing with. She wanted a "sneak peek," as she had put it. She set everything up, and they formed a circle around the table.

"Right," Pamela said. "Take each other's hands." Allie took brothers' hands in each of her much smaller ones. "And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched," Pamela continued as she reached under the table.

"Whoa," Dean said with a jump. "He didn't touch me there."

Pamela laughed. "My mistake ."

Allie exchanged glances with Sam and forced back a laugh. Dean let go of Allie's hand and pulled his left arm out of the sleeve of his flannel shirt. As he rolled up the sleeve of his t-shirt, Allie's eyes grew wide in horror at the sight of the angry pink scar in the shape of a perfect human hand on his shoulder. Dean took Allie's hand once more. She stared at him as Pamela laid her hand over the scar. He just shrugged.

"I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle," Pamela chanted.

The table started shaking and the TV turned on over in the corner, showing nothing but snow.

"I invoke, conjure, and command-" She suddenly paused. "Castiel? No, sorry Castiel, I don't scare easy."

"Castiel?" Dean asked in confusion. Allie felt the same way. Castiel sounded very ancient and very powerful.

"It's name," Pamela replied. "It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back."

The rest of the group exchanged nervous looks. They all knew that this was getting dangerous.

Pamela continued in her attempt to see the creature in question. "I conjure and command you, show me your face," she chanted. The table started shaking more violently.

Allie had gone from nervous to terrified. "I think we should stop," she said.

"I almost got it," Pamela stated. "I conjure and command you, show me your face. Show me your face now!"

The flames on the candles in the center of the table grew higher, and Pamela screamed in agonized pain. Her eyes had burst into flames. She collapsed to the floor as the others gazed on in horror.

"Call 911!" Bobby shouted as they all jumped out of their seats. Sam rushed to the phone. Bobby cradled Pamela in his arms. Blood ran down her cheeks like crimson tears.

Her eyelids flashed open as she started crying in fright, revealing empty, black sockets. "I can't see," she cried. "I can't see!"

Dean looked up at his sister. They knew they were in big trouble after what had just occurred. Neither of them had any idea what they were going to do.


	3. Angels Among Us

_So here is chapter 3 and the first appearance of Castiel! I had a few minutes this morning before I am hammered with final exams and job interviews so I figured I would get another chapter up. A big thanks and much love goes out to Shilo-Shadow, I love my knight in red, DimitrilovesRoselovesdimitri, and rouxgaroux316 for reviewing the first two chapters. The encouragement and feedback is very much appreciated, even the negative is taken from an Alabama song._

_So enjoy chapter 3! :)  
_

Bobby went with Pamela to the hospital, while the Winchesters found a diner for dinner, where they ran into three demons. The demons knew about what was going on, and they were just as scared as the Winchesters. They wouldn't lay a finger on the three siblings, though the female certainly made plenty of threats.

Later, Dean and Allie passed out in the pull out sofa while doing research, trying to figure out just what Castiel was. They both were woken up when the TV turned on.

"What the hell?" Allie said. At first she thought it was Sam, but he was nowhere in sight.

Then there was a high-pitched noise that grew louder and louder. The sound made Allie's head feel like it was going to explode. Both of them covered their ears, though it didn't do much good; the noise was just too loud. The windows exploded, showering the floor with glass, then the mirrors on the ceiling did the same.

"Dean," Allie cried as her brother collapsed in pain.

The door swung open, and Bobby rushed in, panic written on his face at the scene before him. "Dean! Allie!" he shouted over the loud careening noise.

The noise suddenly stopped. Allie's heart was hammering in her chest. What the Hell had just happened? "Dean," she said, exasperated. "You okay?"

"Yeah, you?"

I'm all right. Where the hell is Sam?"

"The Impala was gone," Bobby stated.

"He took my car," Dean grumbled. "He really needs to get his own set of wheels, and stop taking mine."

Dean called Sam from Bobby's car. "What are you doing?" he asked, then waited for Sam's response. "In my car?" Allie snorted with laughter. "Bobby's back. We're going to grab a beer," he told Sam and held a finger to his lips to silence Bobby and Allie. "Done. I'll catch ya later."

"Why the hell didn't you tell him?" Bobby asked.

"'Cause he's just try to stop us," Dean replied.

"From what?" Bobby questioned.

"Summoning this thing. It's time to face it head on."

"What?" Allie exclaimed. "Are you freaking insane?"

"You can't be serious," Bobby said.

"As a heart attack." He smiled. "It's high noon baby."

"We don't know what it is," Bobby said. "It could be anything."

"Bobby's right, Dean," Allie said. "This is a suicide mission."

"But we'll be ready for anything." He pulled out a knife. Allie recognized it as Ruby's knife, the one that could kill demons. "We got the big time magic knife. You've got an arsenal in the trunk. And double black belt is in the back seat." He shrugged.

"This is a bad idea," Bobby said warily.

"No, it's not, Bobby," Allie disagreed. "It's completely freaking insane!"

"I couldn't agree more," Dean replied. "But what other choice do we have?"

Allie threw herself back against the leather seat. This was just crazy. They were all going to be killed. Then Sam really would snap and land in a mental institution.

"We could choose life," Bobby suggested, voicing Allie's thoughts.

"Bobby, whatever this is, whatever it wants, it's after me. That much we know, right? I got no place to hide. Now, I can either get caught with my pants down again, or we can make our stand."

"Dean, we could use Sam for this," Bobby said.

"No," Allie said. "We aren't involving him."

"Allie's right. He's better off where he is."

* * *

The three of them set up shop in an old abandoned barn. Dean set up every weapon they had while Allie and Bobby covered every inch of the walls, ceiling, and floor with sigils, talismans, and traps.

"Hell of an art project you two have got going there," Dean said.

"Traps and talismans from every faith on the globe," Bobby replied. "How you doing?"

"Stakes, iron, silver, salt, knife. We're pretty much set to kill anything I've ever heard of."

"This is still a bad idea," Bobby said, shaking his head.

"Thank you, Bobby," Allie said in frustration.

"Yeah, Bobby, I heard you both the first ten times," Dean replied. "What do you say we ring the dinner bell?"

Bobby sighed. He was not happy with this idea, but Dean was dead set on it. So he moved over the alter and started the incantation for the summoning ritual.

"All right," he said when he was finished. "Now we wait." He pulled himself up onto the table beside the alter, and Dean did the same on the other table. Allie, on the other hand, was too anxious to sit still, so instead she paced in circles around the two tables.

It seemed like they waited for an eternity without any sign of any creature. Allie was beginning to think that this Castiel wasn't going to show, which was just fine with her. Dean started playing with Ruby's knife at some point in his impatience.

"You sure you did the ritual right?" Dean asked Bobby, who gave Dean a dirty look.

"I don't think it was the ritual," Allie said in Bobby's defense.

"Sorry. Touchy, touchy." He put the knife down.

"I don't think our little friend is coming," Allie stated.

Just as she said it, the wind started to pick up, rattling the panels on the roof. Allie's heart started racing. She swallowed against the lump in her throat. She moved closer to her brother as the two men stood up, looking around the barn.

"Do you think-?" Allie started to ask, but trailed off.

"Wishful thinking, but maybe it's just the wind," Dean replied.

Suddenly, the light bulbs above them started to burst, showering them with sparks. The doors slowly swung open and a lone figure entered the barn. Castiel. As Allie watched him slowly cross the floor, unhindered by any of the traps, his face was illuminated by the sparks still raining down around them all, and she forgot that he was incredibly dangerous. Her only thought was that he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, dressed in a black suit with a royal blue tie, covered by a tan trench coat. He stared at the humans with piercing blue eyes, eyes that were cold and empty. Allie stood frozen as Bobby and Dean started firing salt rounds at the creature. She could feel the gun in her hand, but she couldn't use it. She couldn't bring herself to hurt the beautiful creature before her, though he seemed to be unharmed by the shots. As he approached them, Dean threw his gun aside and picked up the knife. The beautiful man focused all his attention on Dean.

"Who are you?" Dean asked.

"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition," the creature said. His voice was deep, almost like he was straining to speak.

"Yeah?" Dean replied sarcastically. "Thanks for that."

Castiel gave Dean a smile and nodded, thinking that Dean meant it. But then Dean made it obvious that he wasn't really grateful by plunging Ruby's knife into Castiel's chest. He was once again unharmed, and his expression remained the same as he pulled the knife out and threw it aside. Dean and Bobby exchanged panicked glances, while Allie's eyes were still glued to Castiel's face.

Castiel took minimal notice of the other two humans in the room. His focus was on Dean. That was why he was here. The others were inconsequential.

Bobby swung at the creature with an iron crowbar, but Castiel was too quick. Without turning around, he reached back and grabbed the crowbar. He turned and placed two fingers against the man's forehead. Bobby's eyes rolled back in his head before drifting shut, and he collapsed to the floor.

"Bobby!" Allie gasped, coming back to Earth. She suddenly remembered that he was dangerous and could kill them all, probably very easily. She rushed to Bobby's side, but Castiel stopped her in his tracks. She peered directly into his cold eyes as pressed his fingertips to her forehead. She felt her entire body go limp, her mind go blank, and her eyes fall shut, and then there was nothing but darkness.

Though it was regrettable, especially to the girl, he couldn't feel bad about what he had just done, not that either of the humans were injured, just asleep. They needed to be out of the way so that he could try getting through to Dean.

"We need to talk, Dean," he said. "Alone."

Dean gazed at Castiel in horror. Castiel had a lot of work to do, he realized. He turned around, and Dean knelt down between the other two humans, feeling for their pulses.

"Your friend is alive," Castiel informed him as he flipped through the Bible on the table. "So is your sister." He looked down at the girl's sleeping form as he said it, thinking that she was a beautiful creature, especially for a human.

"Who are you?" Dean asked again.

"Castiel."

"Yeah, I figured that much. I mean what are you?"

Castiel turned and looked at Dean. "I'm an angel of the Lord."

Dean looked him up and down in disbelief. "Get the Hell outta here. There's no such thing."

"This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith." Creating a bolt of lightning, Castiel brightened the room, showing Dean the massive shadows of wings behind him, sure that the human would have to believe him.

"Some angel you are. You burned out that poor woman's eyes."

Castiel hung his head in shame. He did regret what had happened to the woman, but it wasn't entirely his fault. "I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be overwhelming to humans. So can my voice, but you already knew that."

"You mean the gas station and the motel? That was you talking?" Castiel nodded. "Buddy, next time, lower the volume."

"It was my mistake," the angel conceded. "Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong."

"And what visage are you in now? Holy tax accountant?"

"This?" Castiel fingered the tan trench coat. "This is a vessel."

"You're possessing some poor bastard?"

"He's a devout man. He actually prayed for this."

"Yeah, pal, I'm not buying what you're selling, so who are you really?"

Castiel was confused. He had already showed Dean the wings. "I told you," he said.

"Right," Dean replied. "And why would an angel rescue me from Hell?"

"Good things do happen, Dean." He took another step closer to the human.

"Not in my experience."

"What's the matter? You don't think you deserve to be saved?"

"Why'd you do it?"

Castiel took a deep breath. "Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll see soon enough." With one last smile, the angel disappeared. He had more work to do.


	4. Devour

_Okay, so here is chapter 4. The title is from a Shinedown song, which was actually in the race track scene in The Final Destination. A huge thanks and tons of love for Shilo-Shadow and I love my knght in red for reviewing chapter 3. This will likely probably be the last update until Friday at the latest. This week is finals week, so I have a lot of studying to do, but I made this chapter extra long to make up for it. So enjoy!_

When Allie woke up, Dean was standing over her. She quickly sat up, looking around. "Where is he? Where's Castiel? Did you kill him?"

"No," Dean replied. He held out his hand to pull Allie to her feet. "But he's gone."

Bobby was already awake and on his feet. "What the Hell did he do to us?" he asked.

"I think he put you to sleep," Dean replied. "He wanted to talk to me alone."

"And what did he say?" Allie asked.

"He tried to tell me that he's and angel and that he pulled me from the pit because God said so. Apparently they have work for me."

"He…" Allie was at a loss for words. She had always had a strong faith, even when they saw some the most awful things imaginable, but to think that the beautiful creature was actually an angel was a little overwhelming. "An angel?"

"That's what he said, but I'm sure he's full of crap."

"Why?" Allie asked. "Is it really so hard to believe that they exist?"

"Yes, it is. Let's just get out of here."

* * *

"Well, then tell me what else it could have been," Sam said, obviously frustrated that he was having this discussion with Dean once again. He and Dean were in the kitchen, while Allie and Bobby sat quietly in the library going through angel lore. Allie and Bobby exchanged exasperated looks. They both shared the same opinion as Sam. Castiel had been telling the truth. That he was, in fact, an angel and had pulled Dean from Hell on God's orders. Dean, however, was still not convinced.

"Look, all I know is that I was not groped by an angel," Dean replied.

"Okay, look, Dean, why do you think this Castiel would lie to you about it?"

"Maybe he's some kind of demon. Demon's lie."

"Do you think this argument will ever end?" Allie asked Bobby quietly without looking up from the book in her lap. She was sitting in the armchair sideways, her feet dangling over the arm.

"No, probably not," Bobby replied.

"A demon who's immune to salt rounds?" And devil's traps? And Ruby's knife? Dean, Lilith is scared of that thing."

"Don't you think that if angels were real, then some hunter somewhere would have seen one at some point? Ever?"

"Yeah, you just did, Dean."

"Sam: one, Dean: zero," Allie whispered.

"I'm trying to come up with a theory here," Dean said. "Work with me."

"Dean, we have a theory."

"Yeah, one with a little less fairy dust on it, please!"

"Look, I'm not saying we know for sure. I'm just saying that I think we-"

"Okay, okay, that's the point. We don't know for sure. So I'm not gonna believe this thing's a freakin' angel of the Lord just because it says so!"

Allie sighed. She wished Sam would just give up. He wasn't going to convince Dean that Castiel was an angel, none of them were. Dean was a stubborn ass. There wasn't really any changing his mind once it was set. But then again, Sam was the same way, so he wouldn't give up either.

"You two chuckle heads wanna keep arguing religion?" Bobby said, finally interrupting the argument. "Or you wanna come take a look at this?" The two of them came into the library. "I've got stacks of lore. Biblical, pre-Biblical, some of it's in damn cuneiform. It all says that an angel can snatch a soul from the pit."

"What else?" Dean asked, digging at the hand-shaped scar on his left shoulder.

"What else what?" Bobby tried to clarify.

"What else could do it?"

"Airlift your ass outta the hot box? As far as I can tell, nothing."

"Face it bro," Allie said. "You were touched by an angel. Full on Roma Downey."

Dean shook his head. He just refused to believe it, though Bobby had shown him proof.

"Dean, this is good news," Sam said smiling, knowing he had won this one.

"How?" Dean demanded.

"Because for once this isn't just another round of demon crap."

"This is the song that never ends," Allie sang jokingly.

"I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, ya know," Sam continued, ignoring Allie's tribute to Lamb Chop.

"Okay," Dean said. "Say it's true. Say there are angels. Then what, there's a God?"

Bobby shrugged. "At this point, Vegas money's on yeah."

Dean laughed sarcastically and shook his head. "I don't know you guys. What do you think, Al?"

"You know what I think, Dean," Allie replied, fingering the cross pendent hanging from her neck. Dean ran his hands through his hair.

"Okay, look," Sam said. "I know you're not all-all choir boy about this stuff, but this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof."

"Proof? Proof that there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me, personally? I'm sorry but I'm not buying it."

"Why not?" Sam asked, sounding annoyed.

Allie swung her around to face her older brother, curious. She wanted to know what he meant.

"Because why me? If there was a God out there, why would he give a crap about me?"

"Dean-" Allie and Sam said together.

Allie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sure, Dean did some really stupid things in his life, but he was one of the greatest people she knew. He wouldn't be a hunter if he wasn't a good person.

"I mean, I've saved some people. I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching chicks. But why do I deserve to be saved? I'm just a regular guy."

"Apparently, you're a regular guy who's important to the man upstairs," Sam said.

"Well that creeps me out. I mean, I don't like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by God."

"Okay, well too bad, Dean, because I think he wants you to strap on your party hat," Sam joked.

"Sam's right, Dean," Allie said. "And I can't understand why you can't see that you deserve this. Sure, you aren't always honest and you're kind of a man-whore, but you've given up everything to save people's lives. Why shouldn't you be the one to be saved for once?"

"Fine," Dean said with a sigh. "What do we know about angels?"

Bobby picked up a stack of old, thick books and sat them back down in front of Sam and Dean. "Start reading," he said.

"You're gonna get me some pie," Dean said pointing at his brother. He slammed his hand down on the top book before picking it up, and then went back out into the kitchen.

"You two are ridiculous," Allie said to Sam. She sat her book down and followed Dean out to the kitchen. "You okay?"

"Peachy keen," Dean replied.

"Bullshit. You may be a good liar, but I'm your sister. You've never been able to lie to me. Talk to me."

"It's nothing. I just don't believe the same things you do."

"Why not? Because of all the bad things we've seen? Bad things happen, Dean, that's the way of the world. Do you remember the case with Reverend LeGrange?"

"How could I forget? I nearly died, then some other poor bastard died to save me."

"Do you remember what Leila said to you? She said 'If you're gonna have faith, you can't just have it when the miracles happen. You have to have it when they don't.' If we only ever have good things happen to us, we can never learn to appreciate them."

"I just can't buy it."

"Fine," Allie conceded. "We're obviously not gonna convince you otherwise, you stubborn ass. But I meant what I said. You have a good heart, Dean Winchester."

"You know I don't like chick flick moments."

"You are such a pain."

"We've got problems," Bobby said, joining them in the kitchen.

"You mean aside from our other problem?" Dean asked.

"You know the friend I was telling you about? Olivia? Well, she isn't answering my calls."

"So?" Dean replied.

"I've been calling for three days. This isn't like her."

"I'm sure she's all right," Allie said unconvincingly. "Why don't we go see her?"

"I hope you're right," Bobby said.

When Sam got back, Bobby filled him in and they headed out, Bobby leading the way.

* * *

"Olivia?" Bobby called as they walked through the front door.

The four of them wandered inside, guns in hand. Bobby froze, and the Winchesters followed him. In the next room over, a woman lay lifelessly on the floor, he chest ripped open. Olivia. Bobby looked scared. He turned and went back outside.

"Bobby?" Dean called after him.

"I'll check on him," Allie told her brothers. "You two look around." She followed after Bobby. He had his cell phone to his ear. "Bobby? You okay?"

"Balls," he said, pulling the phone away. He pressed some buttons and put it back to his ear, pacing frantically. "Damn it!"

"Bobby, what's going on?"

He brushed past her back into the house, cell phone still in hand. "This is bad," he muttered.

"Bobby, you all right?" Dean asked as Bobby and Allie came back inside.

"I called some hunter nearby," Bobby replied.

"Good, we could use the help."

"Except they ain't answering their phones either."

"Something's up, huh?" Sam asked.

"You think." He left again. This time Allie didn't follow.

"What are we gonna do?" Allie asked.

"I don't know," Sam replied.

"Do we have any idea what happened?"

"Well, there's a salt line and an EMF out. It's gotta be a ghost."

"A ghost? Since when do ghosts rip people's chests open?"

* * *

They made some more calls and some visits. Three more hunters were dead, including Bobby's good friend Jed.

"I'm sorry, Bobby," Allie said as the old man drove back toward Sioux Falls. She had gone with him, not wanting him to go alone. "This is just…insane. I thought the whole angel-saving-Dean-from-Hell thing was bad." She hesitated, not sure if she should ask him the question that had been eating away at her since they had found Jed. "Do you-do you think that whatever this is, that it's gonna come for us, too?" She could hear the fear in her own voice.

"I don't know," Bobby replied. "But if it does, we'll stop it. I promise." He was trying to comfort her, as always. He was so different with her than he was with her brothers. Maybe it was because she didn't always take advantage of him like Sam and Dean sometimes did.

* * *

Castiel stood in the shadows near the gas station. He knew what was going on here, but he couldn't do anything about it. He had other orders, other things to take care of. But he knew that if the Winchesters were on to the situation, they would be able to do something about it. He watched Sam fill up the tank of the old black car and then go to the restroom. Dean was asleep in the front seat. The angel couldn't help noticing that their sister, Allie wasn't with them. He wasn't sure why that fact seemed to bother him. He watched for a few seconds more, before turning and vanishing into the darkness.

* * *

Bobby and Allie reached the house first. It wasn't long before the lights started to flicker.

"Bobby, I seriously hope that's just a problem with your wiring," Allie said, her heart racing.

"I don't think it is," he replied.

"Humor me."

Before Bobby could say anything else, the temperature in the room seemed to drop a good ten or fifteen degrees. Their breath was visible in front of them. Then there came the sound of children of laughing. Bobby quickly moved to the fireplace and grabbed the iron poker. The radio came on, playing nothing but static as Bobby and Allie moved around, looking for the source of the laughter. Allie moved in the opposite direction from Bobby, grabbing the sawed-off loaded with salt rounds off the desk. She met Bobby again in the entryway. A ball bounced noisily down the stairs. Then there two little girls, twins, in matching blue dresses, glaring at Bobby. Allie lifted the gun to shoot them with the rock salt, but a voice behind her made her spin around quickly.

"Hello again, Allie," the teenage boy said. "Remember me?"

She remembered. She would never forget this kid for as long as she lived. Not long after Dean's death, she was working a werewolf case in Northern Alabama. The kid, whose name was Kevin, bad been friends with the two victims in the case. Allie had questioned him. He was a sweet kid and had made it obvious that he had a crush on Allie. Unfortunately, the werewolf got to him as Allie was closing in on it. Allie hadn't protected the poor kid; she had been just a second too late. She would never forget his face…or forgive herself for not saving him.

"I remember," she whispered.

"You got me killed."

"No. I tried to save you, I swear. I did everything I could."

"It's not nice to lie, Allie. But it doesn't matter. I'm about to get revenge." He smiled before lunging at Allie. Allie quickly fired off a shot, peppering the ghost with rock salt. In an instant, he was gone.

She turned back to Bobby, but he was gone, along with the two little girls. Panic started to bubble in the pit of her stomach.

"Bobby!" she cried. She frantically searched the house. The sun had started to creep over the horizon, but she still couldn't find him. He had only been gone for half an hour, but it was long enough for the little girls to have ripped his chest wide open. But she refused to give up. Bobby was like a father to her, and she wasn't going to let him die.

"Bobby!" she heard Dean call. "Allie!"

She ran to the front door to greet her brothers who had their shot guns raised. "Dean, I can't find him!" she said. "We were attacked by ghosts and he just disappeared. I've looked all over the house."

"He's here somewhere," Dean replied. "We'll find him."

He went to check upstairs again and Sam and Allie outside to look. The two of them split up, looking around the salvage yard.

"Bobby?" she heard Sam call. "Bobby!"

"Bobby!" Allie shouted. "Come on, Bobby, answer us!"

"Anything?" Sam asked.

"No," she replied, approaching her twin brother. As Sam exhaled, she could see his breath. "He's close," she stated, raising her gun. She spun in circles trying to figure out just where the ghosts could possible have Bobby.

"Bobby!" Sam continued to shout as he looked into car windows. "We're here, Bobby!" They pried open car trunks, peeked into windows on the rusty, twisted heaps of metal. "Where is he?" Sam roared.

"Hold on, Bobby!" Allie cried.

Sam looked up at a small pile of cars and stopped. "Allie, there!" He started running to toward the pile. The mirror on a van was covered in ice. "Bobby! Hold on, Bobby, I'm coming!"

Allie was right on his heels as he humped onto the hood of the bottom car. He peeked into the back door of the van.

"Bobby!" Sam shouted and pried open the door with the crowbar in his hands. He suddenly flew backwards into the windshield of another car.

"Sam!" Allie shouted.

One of the little girls was suddenly on top of him, ready to plunge her arm straight into Sam's chest. Allie raised her gun and fired. The little girl vanished. Sam sat up, and the two of them looked back up at the van to see the other girl watching them. Allie raised her gun again, but the girl disappeared before she could pull the trigger. Bobby was there, unharmed, an iron crowbar in his hand.

"You okay, Bobby?" Allie asked.

"Yeah," Bobby replied heavily.

"Dean," Allie said and took off back toward the house. She found him upstairs, lying on the floor, gasping for air. "Dean?"

"Bobby?" he asked with a groan.

"He's fine. What happened to you?"

"I just got my ass kicked by Meg."

"Meg? You mean the demon with the Shadows? The one we threw out of a window?"

"Yeah. The girl's ghost is really pissed."

She helped her brother to his feet, and the two of them went back down to the library. Dean collapsed on the couch and started reloading his gun with salt rounds.

"So they're all people we know?" Sam said frustrated.

"Not just know," Dean replied. "People we couldn't save."

Allie didn't want to hear that. She was already wracked with guilt over Kevin…and now Meg. She didn't want to know who else would come for her.

"Hey, I saw something on Meg," Dean said. "Did she have a tattoo when she was alive?"

"I don't think so," Sam answered.

"Like a mark on her hand. Almost like a brand."

"I saw a mark, too, on Henrickson," Sam said.

"I did, too," Allie said, remembering the strange mark on the back of Kevin's hand.

"What did it look like?" Bobby asked.

"Paper?" Sam questioned. Bobby handed him a notepad. "Thanks." He quickly started drawing something. He held it up to show Dean and Allie.

"That's it," they both chorused.

Sam handed the notepad back to Bobby. "I may have seen this before," Bobby said. He moved over to the back bookshelf. There was a loud thump, causing them all to freeze. "We've gotta move. Follow me." He handed some books to Sam.

"Okay, where are we going?" Sam asked.

"Some place safe, you idiot," Bobby replied.

Allie knew what Bobby meant when he said "some place safe." She had been down there once before when her gun got broken and Bobby let her take one of his. Bobby led them downstairs, cautiously looking around for any signs of their uninvited guests. He stopped in front of a heavy metal door. He looked back at the siblings before pulling it open. Sam and Dean looked confused as they stepped inside. Bobby flipped the light switch. High above them was a huge fan, covered by a grate with a built-in devil's trap. Another trap covered most of the floor. There was a desk with a metal chair and a cot chained to the wall. Racks, shelves, and lockers were loaded with guns and knives, even a few jugs of holy water. As Bobby pulled the door closed behind them, Sam felt the wall.

"Bobby is this-?" he started.

"Solid iron," Bobby finished. "Coated in salt. 100% ghost proof."

"You built a panic room?"

"I had a weekend off." The tone of his voice and the expression on his face made Allie chuckle. He acted as if it was no big deal.

"Bobby?" Dean said, pulling a gun off one of the racks.

"What?"

"You're awesome," Dean replied with a smile. Then he noticed the poster of Bo Derek on the wall. "Oh."


	5. Only God Knows Why

_So I needed a break from studying and decided to do a quick update. This isn't one of favorite chapters but it is important, you know cause it's where they learn about the apocalypse and the seals. Title of the chapter comes from Kid Rock's "Only God Knows Why." So here ya go and enjoy!

* * *

_

Bobby sat at the desk going through his books, while Sam and Dean packed more salt rounds. Allie lay on her side on the cot flipping through one of Bobby's books, though she had no idea what she was looking at. Her thoughts kept straying back to the barn as she stared up into the angel's blue eyes.

"See, this is why I can't get behind God," Dean suddenly blurted out into the silence of the panic room. The others all looked up at him.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"If He doesn't exist, fine. Bad crap happens to good people, that's how it is. And no rhyme or reason, just random, horrible evil. I get it, okay? I can roll with that. But if He is out there, what's wrong with Him? Where the hell is He while all these decent people are getting ripped to shreds? How does He live with Himself, you know? Why doesn't He help?" He threw down the packing tool he'd been using in frustration.

"I ain't touching this one with a ten foot pole," Bobby said.

"Dean, He can't do everything," Allie said. "Like I said before, bad things have to happen. There will always be conflict and evil, no matter what."

They were all silent again for a minute before Bobby changed the subject. "Found it," he stated.

"What?" Sam asked.

"The symbol you saw. The brand on the ghosts. Mark of the Witness." He tapped the page of the book with his pencil.

"Witness?" Sam asked. "Witness to what?"

"The unnatural."

Allie sat up. She was sure she had heard something about this before or read it somewhere.

"None of them died what you'd call ordinary deaths," Bobby continued. "See these ghosts, they were forced to rise. They woke up in agony. They're like rabid dogs. It ain't their fault. Someone rose them on purpose."

"Who?" Sam asked.

"Do I look like I know?"

"Demons?" Allie asked.

"Well, whoever it is used a spell so powerful, it left a mark," Bobby continued. "A brand on their souls. Whoever did this had big plans. It's called the Rising of the Witnesses. It figures into an ancient prophecy."

"Wait, wait," Dean interrupted. "What book is that prophecy from?"

"Well, the widely distributed version's just for tourists, you know," Bobby replied. "But, uh, long story short-"

"Revelations," Allie finished for him, suddenly remembering where she had seen something about the Witnesses. Her heart dropped to her stomach. This could not be happening. But then again, why else would angels be saving people from Hell and taking vessels.

"She's right. This is a sign, boys."

"A sign of what?" the brothers asked together. Allie what was coming next. She had read the Bible.

"The apocalypse," Bobby stated.

"Apocalypse?" Dean repeated.

"Yeah."

"As in 'apocalypse' apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, $5-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?"

"That's the one," Bobby sighed. "The Rise of the Witnesses is a mile marker."

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Sam asked.

"Pfft," Dean laughed. "Road trip. Yeah. Grand Canyon, Star Trek experience, Bunny Ranch."

"Dean, this is serious," Allie scolded. "If the apocalypse is really happening, everyone will die."

"First thing's first," Bobby said. "How about we survive our friends out there?"

"Great," Dean said. "Any ideas aside from staying in this room until Judgment Day?"

"There's a spell to send the Witnesses back to rest. It should work."

"Should?" Sam asked with a sarcastic laugh. "Great."

"If I translated correctly, I think I got everything we need here at the house."

"Any chance you got everything we need here in this room?" Dean asked hopefully.

"So you think our luck was gonna start now of all of a sudden?" Bobby said sardonically. Allie snorted; she always loved it when he told her brothers off. "Spell's gotta be said over an open fire."

"The fireplace in the library," Sam suggested.

"Bingo," Bobby replied.

"It's just not as appealing as a ghost-proof panic room, you know?" Dean complained.

They loaded the salt rounds into their guns. Cautiously, they left the panic room and made their way back upstairs.

"Cover each other," Bobby said. "And aim careful. Don't run out of ammo until I'm done or they'll shred you. Ready?"

Sam led the way, his gun at the ready, followed by Allie, then Dean and Bobby carrying their supplies. At the top of the stairs sat a chubby man, with curly brown hair. He looked familiar, but Allie couldn't remember his name.

"Hey, Dean," the man said. "You remember me?"

"Ronald?" Dean replied. Allie suddenly remembered him. They were investigating a string of bank robberies by different people, all employees of the banks where the robberies had occurred, each person committing suicide afterwards. It had ended up being a shapeshifter. Ronald had gotten involved, convinced it was "mandroid." He held up a bank to try to prove his point and had gotten killed in the process. It was the case that had really set FBI Agent Henrickson on their tails. "Huh? With the laser eyes? I wish I could say it's good to see you."

"I am dead because of you," he replied, pulling himself to his feet. "You were supposed to help me!"

Bobby shot Ronald's ghost with the salt rounds. "If you're gonna shoot, shoot. Don't talk."

They reached the library and quickly got to work. Sam and Allie made a large circle of salt around the desk. Dean started a fire. Bobby went through the list to see what they needed for the spell. He gave instructions to Sam to find some of the ingredients. He ran upstairs, leaving the salt with Allie.

"Bobby." They looked up to see the little girls again.

Dean fired a salt round, but they vanished with low giggles. Bobby gave Dean instructions, as well, sending him into the kitchen for more ingredients. As Dean followed orders, Bobby started drawing on the desk in white chalk.

"Bobby." The girls were back.

"Keep working, Bobby," Allie said.

"You walked right by us," one of the girls said.

"While that monster ate us all up," the other continued.

Allie fired, and they disappeared, only to reappear on the opposite side of the room.

"You could have saved us."

"Don't listen to them," Allie instructed. "You know it wasn't your fault."

"Come on, Allie," Kevin said, appearing in front of her. "Now, you know it was your fault. I would still be alive if it wasn't for you, you stupid bitch!"

Allie shot him in the face as the doors to the kitchen slammed shut.

"Dean!" Allie and Bobby both shouted.

"I'm all right," he called back. "Keep working!"

A minute later, Allie heard a shot from the kitchen, and then both her brothers came through the kitchen door. They handed over everything they had collected. Allie started refilling her gun with more salt rounds.

"Ronald," Dean said. Allie looked up to the chubby man once again, sitting in a chair just outside the circle of salt. "Hey, come on, man. I thought we were pals."

"That was when I was breathing," Ronald replied. He smiled. "Now I'm gonna eat you alive."

Dean chuckled. "Well, I'm not a cheeseburger." He cocked his gun, but Ronald had vanished.

Bobby started reciting the incantation in Latin. The windows suddenly flew open, sending hard gusts of wind through the room. The ghosts were now appearing quicker and quicker. The Winchesters tried to keep up, but they couldn't reload their guns fast enough. As Dean attempted to reload his gun, it flew out of his hands. Henrickson was there. Dean reached for Bobby's gun, but it was empty. So instead, he grabbed the iron fire poker and swung at the ghost. As Allie fired, a rolling desk started rushing toward Sam, breaking the salt line, and pinning Sam against the bookshelf.

"Sam!" Dean shouted.

"Cover Bobby," Sam gasped.

It was then that Bobby cried out in pain. Allie turned to see the ghost of Meg standing behind him, her arm through his back, gripping his heart to make it stop beating.

"Dean!" he said, dropping the silver bowl. Dean dove and deftly caught it. "The fireplace!"

Dean threw the contents of the bow into the flames. There was a flash of bluish-white light, and all of the Witnesses were gone. Bobby fell to his knees in pain.

"Bobby?" Dean said rushing to his side.

With Allie's help, Sam moved the desk and they both helped tend to Bobby as well. He was a little shaken, but otherwise unharmed.

"Okay," Allie sighed, collapsing into a chair. "I really need a beer or two…or ten."

* * *

Castiel needed to talk to Dean again. He knew the easiest way would be while Dean slept. He found himself in the kitchen of Bobby's house and leaned back against the counter as Dean stirred. He sat up and took in the sight of the angel, not looking very pleased to have been disturbed in the middle of the night. He obviously didn't realize that this was just in his head, though very real. Dean slowly got to his feet and approached Castiel warily.

"Excellent job with the Witnesses," Castiel commended.

"You were hip to this?" Dean asked.

"I was made aware." He had known everything, almost from the beginning, but Dean didn't need to know that. He had had other orders anyway.

"Well, thanks for the angelic assistance." There was acid in Dean's voice. "You know, I almost got my heart ripped out of my chest."

"But you didn't."

"I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings? Halos? You know, Michael Landon, not dicks."

Castiel smiled. That was a common misconception, Castiel's favorite actually. He wasn't surprised to hear it from Dean. "Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

"Yeah? Then why don't you fight?"

Now Castiel was getting angry. With a sharp intake of breath, he spoke again. "I am not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns."

"Concerns? Good people are getting torn to shreds down here!" The angel shifted uncomfortably. He had wanted to intervene, but had been unable to. "And by the way," Dean continued, "while all this is going on, where the Hell is your boss, huh? If there is a God."

"There's a God," the angel stated confidently. He had never met his father, but he knew He was out there. How else would he exist? How would any of this exist?

"Well, I'm not convinced. 'Cause if there's a God the what the Hell is He waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the Earth? The freaking apocalypse? At what point does He lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards who are stuck down here?"

"The Lord works-"

"If you say in mysterious ways, so help me, I will kick your ass."

The angel raised his hands in defeat. He didn't know what else he could say to convince this human. He wasn't used to trying this hard. Everyone else took one look at an angel and automatically believed in God, too.

"So, Bobby was right?" Dean asked, moving around the table. "About the Witnesses? This is some kind of sign of the apocalypse?"

"That's why we're here," Castiel replied. "Big things afoot."

"Do I wanna know what kind of things?"

"I sincerely doubt it, but you need to know." He paused and took a deep breath. "The Rising of the Witnesses is one the 66 seals."

"Okay, I'm guessing that's not a show at Sea World."

"Those seals are being broken. By Lilith."

Dean nodded in understanding, obviously unsurprised by this newfound revelation. "She did the spell. She rose the Witnesses."

"Mm-hm." Castiel nodded. "And not just here. Twenty other hunters are dead."

"Of course. She picked victims the hunters couldn't save so they would barrel right after us."

"Lilith has a certain sense of humor."

"Well, we put those spirits back to rest."

"It doesn't matter. The seal was still broken."

"Why break the seals anyway?" This was the unavoidable question and there was only way to answer it.

"You think of the seals as locks on a door."

"Okay. Last one opens and…?"

The angel looked Dean straight in the eye, pushing himself away from the counter. "Lucifer walks free."

"Lucifer?" Dean's face was full of confusion. "But Lucifer's just a story told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing."

"Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me." He watched Dean's face for a moment before continuing. "Why do you think we're here, walking among you now for the first time in two thousand years?"

"To stop Lucifer," Dean replied quietly. What the angel had told him was starting to sink in and he was scared.

Castiel nodded. "That's why we've arrived."

Dean shook his head, the fear disappearing from his face to be replaced with annoyance. "Well, bang up job so far. Stellar work with the Witnesses. It's nice."

Castiel stared at the human, fed up with his attitude. "We tried," he said. "There are other battles, other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This time we lost." Dean let out a short laugh. The angel moved closer to him. "Our numbers are _not_ unlimited. Six of my brothers died in battle this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around?" His tone had become even more hard and serious. By the look on Dean's face, Castiel seemed to be getting through to him. "There's a bigger picture here. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in." With that, he left.


	6. It's Getting Harder & Harder to Breathe

_Wow, I just realized how long it has been since my last update on this break was a very lazy period and now I'm back for my last semester of nursing school. One class in particular is pretty much taking over my life, so I won't be able to update much, but I will put in my best efforts. So, I apologize for the very slow updates in advance. And enjoy chapter 6: It's Getting Harder and Harder to Breathe, taken from the Maroon 5 song._

* * *

"Hey, Sammy," Allie said walking into their hotel room. She had woken up to find both of her brothers gone, so she had decided to go out for a walk and enjoy the sunshine. It had been a couple of weeks since the incident with the Witnesses. Dean had since filled them in on what Castiel had told him. Allie had been disappointed that she hadn't gotten to see him again. When she got back to the hotel, Sam was sitting at the table reading a book. He seemed distraught. "You okay?"

"Not really," he replied. "There's, uh, there's something that I really should tell you."

"Where's Dean?"

"I don't know, but listen-"

The door opened, cutting Sam off, and in walked Dean. Sam jumped up and followed him.

"Hello to you, too, big brother," Allie said as Dean brushed past her and started putting his clothes into his army-green duffel bag.

"Dean, what are you doing?" Sam asked. "Are you leaving?"

"You don't need me," Dean replied. "You and Ruby go fight demons."

"What are you blabbering about, Dean?" Allie demanded. "I thought Ruby was MIA after Lilith got to her? Sam?"

"Hold on," Sam said as Dean headed for the door. Both of them ignored their sister. "Dean, come on, man."

Dean suddenly turned, pulling his fist back, and then connecting it with Sam's jam.

"Dean!" Allie cried in alarm as Sam lurched. What the Hell had she missed? It had to have been bad for Dean to attack Sam that way.

"You satisfied?" Sam asked Dean.

Obviously, he wasn't. He landed another hard punch on Sam's face.

"All right, enough!" Allie shouted, stepping between her brothers.

"Guess not," Sam said as he wiped blood from his split lip.

"Would one of you mind telling me what's going on here?" Allie demanded.

"_Your _brother," Dean spat, emphasizing the word "your." Sam must have done something really terrible for Dean to say that he was Allie's brother. He had never said that before. "Do you know how far off the reservation you've gone? How far from normal? From human?"

"I'm just exorcising demons," Sam replied quietly.

"With your mind! Dean snapped, making Allie jump.

Had she just heard Dean correctly? She couldn't have, she told herself. Sam wouldn't use any of that psychic crap that he had gotten from Azazel. He had promised her and Dean both that he would never go down that road, no matter what happened.

"Sam, what is he talking about?" Allie asked when she found her voice again.

"He's using his psychic powers," Dean informed her, confirming her worst fears. "What else can you do?"

"I can send them back to Hell. It only works with demons, and that's it."

Dean grabbed his brother's shirt and pushed him backwards. "What else can you do?" he asked again. Allie didn't try to step in again. She sat down on the nearest bed, trying to calm herself.

"I told you," Sam replied.

"And I have every reason in the world to believe that," Dean said sarcastically.

"Look, I should have said something. I'm sorry, Dean, I am. But try to see the other side here."

"The other side?"

"I'm pulling demons out of innocent people."

"Use the knife!"

"The knife kills the victim. What I do, most of them survive! Look, I've saved more people in the last five months than we save in a year."

No matter how Sam tried to justify what he was doing, it didn't make it any better. She was appalled by her twin brother. And it was made so much worse coming from his own mouth.

"Is that what Ruby wants you to think?" Dean asked. His voice was softer, though still full of anger. "Kind of like the way she tricked ya into using your powers? Slippery slope, brother. Just wait and see. 'Cause its gonna get darker and darker, and God knows where it ends."

"I'm not gonna let it go too far."

Dean turned away. He fidgeted and then threw a lamp against the wall. Allie jumped, afraid of what this discovery was going to do to Dean, just as much as she was of what Sam was doing. Tears sprung to her eyes.

"It's already gone too far, Sam." He moved closer and took a deep breath. "If I didn't know you, I'd wanna hunt you. And so would other hunters."

Allie couldn't believe that Dean had just spoken those words. As angry as she was, she would never have said that to Sam. The worst part was that she now had started to realize what Sam had been doing during the four months that Dean was in Hell. It hit her like a ton of bricks: now she knew that he had left her to join up with Ruby to learn how to use his psychic powers and kill Lilith…after he had specifically promised his siblings that he wouldn't ever use those powers.

"You were gone," Sam said, his voice thick. "I was here. I had to keep fighting without you."

Allie's despair gave way to fury. "What about me, Sam?" she bellowed. "I was still here, too!"

"I'm sorry, Al, I am, but what I'm doing, it works."

"Well, tell me," Dean said. "If it's so terrific, then why'd you lie about it to me? And to Allie? Why did an angel tell me to stop you?"

"What?" Sam and Allie asked together. Allie was suddenly reminded of what their father had told Dean right before he died. That if Dean could not stop Sam, he would have to kill him. At the time, they had no idea what he had meant. Allie had just thought that he was crazy.

"Cas said that if I don't stop you, he will. You know what that means, Sam? That means that God doesn't want you doing this. So are you just gonna stand there and tell me everything is good?"

They all fell silent. Sam hung his head. Then Sam's cell phone started ringing, breaking the uneasy silence.

"Hello?" Sam answered. "Hey, Travis. Yeah, hey." He pinched the bridge of his nose and attempted to sound happy to hear from their father's old friend. "It's good to hear your voice, too. Yeah…Look, it's not really a good time right now…Yeah, okay, just give me the details." He moved to the night stand and took down some information.

Allie looked up at Dean, who stared sadly at Sam. She could see the pain in his green eyes, and she knew that he felt like he had failed John, even if he didn't say it. He was supposed to protect his younger siblings, and, as far as he was concerned, he wasn't doing a very good job. But none of this was his fault. He had done his best, but Sam had made his own choices. Nothing Dean could do now was going to erase what had happened while he was gone. If anyone should be blamed, it should have been Allie. She had still been around while Dean was in Hell, but she hadn't stopped Sam either. Who knew what would happen next?

Sam hung up the phone and turned back to Dean. Dean didn't say anything, instead he picked up his bag and went out to the Impala.

"Allie," Sam said. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" she said through clenched teeth. "All this time? You left me to wonder if you were even alive, and all that time you were running around with _Ruby_? You promised us, Sam. You swore you wouldn't go down this road."

"Allie, please, you have to understand."

"No, Sammy, I don't. You left me, your own sister, for a demon, so no, I don't have to understand."

She got up and stormed out of the room, looking for Dean. He was leaning against the hood of the Impala, staring intently at a bush.

"Dean?" she said quietly as she approached him.

"What happened to him?" he asked his sister.

"I don't know. Dean, look, I know how you are. You like to blame yourself for things that are out of your control. I'm telling you, this is not your fault, so don't think that it is."

"But I told Dad that I would look out for him, for both of you."

"Don't give me that, Dean Winchester. You were in Hell. You couldn't do anything. So don't sit there and tell me you somehow failed Dad. You were always the one looking out for Sam and I growing up, not Dad. He never should have put that on you, Dean. You were just a kid, and our life was hard enough." She paused and smiled, a distant memory entering her mind. "Remember the time that I wandered away from the three of you? Sam and I were, what, five, at the time. You were the one who found me. I was so scared. After that, I went to you when I was scared instead of Dad."

"Yeah, I remember. You sometimes drove me crazy, but I loved it when you did." He gave her a small smile. "You remind me so much of Mom…She was a hunter."

"What?" Allie asked.

"Mom was a hunter before she married Dad. And you look and sound and act just like her."

"How do you know that?"

"Cas sent me back to 1973. To when Azazel killed our grandparents and Dad, and made a deal with Mom to bring Dad back if he could have something of hers ten years later. He wanted Sam. The bastard bled into Sam's mouth. That's why Sam is this way, he has demon blood in him. I tried to stop it, I really did, all of it. But I couldn't. So Mom died anyway and Sam is this." He took a deep breath. "She knew him, Al. Mom knew Azazel before that night."

"Wait, Mom made a deal with Yellow Eyes?"

"Yeah."

"So he could turn Sam into one of his psychic kids?"

"Yep."

"But why Sam? Why not me? I mean, we're twins. I was six months, too. He did it to Andy and Anson, so why not me?"

"Hey, don't you think that way, Allie. Would you really want that?"

"Of course not, but at least it wouldn't be Sammy."

* * *

The next several weeks were very eventful. They had investigated the flesh-eating Rugaru their friend Travis had informed them of, Travis getting himself killed in the process. After that one was a shape shifter at Oktoberfest, taking the shape of all the great movie monsters. Dean, of course, thoroughly enjoyed that one because he'd met a pretty girl and had gotten a "happy ending." Allie had enjoyed it because it had been hilarious to see Dean in lederhosen. Then they investigated the death of a perfectly healthy forty-four year old man, which was ruled to be a heart attack, which in a way it was. He had been infected with something called "ghost sickness," which made its victims anxious, then scared, then so scared that the person's heart gave out. They figured all of this out only after Dean had started showing signs of it, too. Allie had actually really enjoyed that one, too. It hadn't been an easy case, but seeing Dean when he wasn't quite so tough was the most entertaining thing Allie had seen in a very long time. Luckily, they ganked the ghost just before Dean's heart gave out on him. Sam had even sworn that he was giving up on using his powers. He agreed that what he was doing was dangerous and he didn't know where it would lead him. Allie was still angry with him, and had yet to forgive him for ditching her for Ruby, but at least he had admitted that what he was doing was no good.

Now they were on a case where a man died after swallowing razor blades out of Halloween candy with no evidence of razors within the candy, and a teenage girl was boiled to death while bobbing for apples at a Halloween party in a tub of water that wasn't even hot. Both scenes had turned up a hex bag, so they at least knew that they were dealing with a witch…The hard part would be to find her.

After they left the house where their second victim had been killed, Sam started doing research that would give them a clue as to what was going on. The victims were both good, upstanding citizens, with no connection to one another at all. As Dean had put it, they were "so vanilla, they made vanilla seem spicy." But it didn't take Sam long to find another explanation.

"I'm telling ya," Dean was saying. "Both of these vics were squeaky clean. There was no reason for wicked bitch payback."

"Maybe it's not about that," Sam suggested.

"Wow, insightful," Dean replied.

"Don't be such a smartass," Allie scolded.

"Maybe this witch isn't working a grudge," Sam continued. "Maybe they're working a spell. Check this out. 'Three blood sacrifices over three days, the last before midnight on the final day of the final harvest.'" He handed Dean the book he had been reading. "Celtic calendar. The final day of the final harvest is October 31."

"Halloween," Dean and Allie chorused.

"Exactly."

"What exactly are the blood sacrifices for?" Dean asked.

"If I'm right, this witch is summoning a demon. And not just any demon…Samhain."

"Oh, crap," Allie knew enough to know that Samhain was not a fun person to have at a party.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Dean asked.

"Dean, Samhain is the damn origin of Halloween," Sam stated."The Celts believed that October 31st was the one night of the year that the veil was thinnest between the living and the dead. I mean, it was Samhain's night. Masks were put on to hide from him, sweets left on doorsteps to appease him, faces carved into pumpkins to worship him. He was exorcised centuries ago."

"So even though Samhain took a trip downstairs, the tradition stuck," Dean stated.

"Exactly. Only now, instead of demons and blood orgies, Halloween is about kids, candy, and costumes."

"Okay, so some witch wants to raise Samhain and take back the night?"

"Dean, this is serious."

"I am serious."

"We're talking heavy-weight witchcraft. This ritual can only be performed every six hundred years."

"And the six hundred year marker rolls around-?"

"Tomorrow night."

"Of course it does," Allie said.

"Naturally," Dean said. "It sure is a lot of death and destruction for one demon." He gestured at the rather gruesome illustrations in the book.

"That's because he doesn't work alone," Allie said.

"Once he's raised," Sam continued, "Samhain can do some raising of his own."

"Raising what, exactly?"

"Dark, evil crap. And lots of it. They follow him around like the frickin' pied piper."

"So we're talking ghosts?"

"Yeah."

"Zombies?"

"Uh-huh."

"Leprechauns?"

"Dean."

"Those little dudes are scary. Small hands."

"You are such a dumbass," Allie insulted.

"You love me," Dean replied.

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Look," Sam said, interrupting his siblings. "It just start with ghosts and ghouls. This sucker keeps on going. By night's end, we're talking every awful thing we've ever seen, everything we fight, all in one place."

"It's gonna be a slaughterhouse," Dean stated.

"Like I said, oh crap," Allie said.


	7. I Put a Spell on You

_Okay, so I needed some break time from health care ethics work, so I decided to post another chapter. This one is extra long. I had intended to break into two, but it was just too short. So here is chapter 7: I Put a Spell on You (if you have seen Hocus Pocus you probably know the song that the Sanderson sisters sing at the costume party_). _And a big thanks and tons of love to Yay 4 Taz and xxmaskedchickxx who reviewed chapter 6!_

_

* * *

_

Dean and Allie were sitting in the Impala in front of Luke Wallis' house, their first victim, to see if the witch would show up there again. Dean had eaten his way through nearly all of their Halloween candy, which there had been a lot of before Dean got hold of it.

"You're gonna give yourself a stomach ache," Allie stated, looking down at the pile of wrappers on the seat between them.

"Nah, I'm fine," he replied. The words were barely out of his mouth when he put a hand on his stomach and groaned.

"Like I said," Allie laughed.

Dean's cell phone went off in his coat pocket. He checked the caller ID. "Sam," he said. He opened the phone and held it to his ear. "Hey," he said through a mouthful of candy.

"_How's it going?" _Allie heard Sam ask.

"Awesome. We talked to Mrs. Razorblade again. We've been sitting out in front of her house for hours, and we've got a big steamy pile of nothing."

"_Look, Dean, someone planted those hex bags, someone with access to both houses. There's gotta be some connection."_

Allie stared out the window in shock. One of their witnesses from the second death, Tracy, was walking up to the Wallis' house, though she had sworn to Dean that she had no idea who Luke Wallis was. "Dean, look."

He looked, too, stopping mid-sentence. "Son-of-a-bitch," he said quietly.

"_Quit whining," _Sam said on the other end of the line.

"No, Sam, I mean son-of-a-bitch."

The two of them watched as Mrs. Wallis opened the front door. She smiled at the teenage girl and handed over her infant son. Allie would have bet everything she owned that they had just found their witch.

* * *

When they got back to the hotel, Sam was lying on the bed, looking at something on his laptop. "So, our apple-bobbing cheerleader?" he asked.

"Tracy. The Wallis's babysitter," Dean replied. "She told me she'd never even heard of Luke Wallis."

"She's a good liar," Allie said. "As good as us."

"Huh," Sam said. "Interesting look for a centuries old witch."

"Yeah, well, if you were a six-hundred year old hag and you could pick any costume to back in, wouldn't you go for a hott cheerleader? I would." He stared into space with a smile on his lips. "Mmm."

"God, seriously, keep those things to your self," Allie said, grossed out by her brother's sudden urge to share.

"Well, Tracy's not as wholesome as she looks," Sam said, changing the subject. "I did some digging. Apparently, she got into a violent altercation with one her teachers and got suspended from school."

"Go talk to the teacher?" Allie asked.

"Yep," her brothers both replied.

* * *

The teacher wasn't as much help as they had hoped. He was the art teacher, Don Harding. Tracy was an emancipated minor and had her own apartment. She had been drawing what Don considered disturbing images of gory death and murder scenes.

After that, Sam went to Tracy's apartment, and Allie and Dean talked to the girl's friends at school. None of them had any luck, which wasn't a surprise. Luck was rarely, if ever, on the side of the Winchesters. As they made their way back to their room, a chubby little boy dressed as an astronaut stopped them.

"Trick or treat," Astronaut said.

"This is a motel," Dean replied.

"So?"

"So, we don't have any candy."

"No, we have a ton in the, uh-" Sam started to correct Dean.

"No, we don't," Allie interrupted. "Dean ate all of it this morning."

"I'm sorry, kid, but we can't help you," Dean said.

"I want candy," the boy whined.

"Well, I think you've had enough."

The boy glared daggers at Dean. Allie was sure that if looks could kill, Dean would be dead as a doornail…again. The kid brushed past Dean and continued on his quest to find candy.

When the Winchesters entered their room, Sam, being the first one in, was the first to see the two figures already there. He pulled out his gun and aimed it at the closer of the two. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Sam, Sam, wait," Dean shouted. "It's Castiel." Allie was the last in the room, and sure enough, there was the trench-coat clad angel, sitting on one of the two beds, his back to the Winchesters. "The angel." He pushed the gun down and noticed the other figure staring out the window. "Him I don't know."

Castiel stood up and turned to face the three humans. Allie was once again overwhelmed by his beauty. Her memories of him that night in the old barn didn't do him any justice.

"Hello again, Dean, Allie. Hello, Sam."

"Oh, my God," Sam said, then gasped. "Er, uh, I didn't mean to-sorry. It's an honor." He acted like a Trekkie meeting their favorite character at a fan convention. Dean and Allie watched him in confusion. "Really, I've heard a lot about you." He extended his right hand toward the angel.

Castiel looked at Sam's hand for a moment before grasping it in a shake. "And I you," he replied. He placed his other hand over Sam's. "Sam Winchester, the boy with the demon blood. I'm glad to hear you've ceased your extracurricular activities."

Sam's face fell. He was embarrassed and ashamed.

"Let's keep it that way," the stranger said from the window.

"Yeah, okay, Chuckles," Dean said, already annoyed with him. "Who's your friend?"

"The raising of Samhain," Castiel said, ignoring Dean's question. "Have you stopped it?"

"Why?" Dean asked.

What does this have to do with the angels, Allie thought to herself.

"Dean, have you located the witch?" Castiel asked urgently. He was feeling very impatient.

"Yes, we've located the witch."

"And is the witch dead?"

"No," Sam answered.

"But we know who it is," Dean finished.

"Apparently, the witch knows who you are, too," Castiel informed them. He walked over to the nightstand and picked up the hex bag. "This was inside the wall of your room. If we hadn't found it, surely at least one of you would be dead. Do you know where the witch is now?"

"We're working on it," Dean responded.

"That's unfortunate." Castiel looked over at his companion.

"What do you care?" Dean questioned.

"The raising of Samhain is one of the 66 seals."

"So this is about your buddy, Lucifer."

"Lucifer is no friend of ours," stated the stranger.

"It's just an expression," Dean clarified.

"Lucifer cannot rise," Castiel said. "The breaking of the seal must be prevented at all costs."

"Okay, great," Dean replied. "Well, now that you're here, why don't you tell us where the witch is, we'll gank her and everybody goes home."

"We are not omniscient. This witch is very powerful. She is cloaked, even to our methods."

"Okay," Sam chimed in. "We already know who she is. So if we work together-"

"Enough of this," the stranger interrupted.

"Who are you and why should I care?" Dean demanded.

The stranger finally turned to face them. He was much more intimidating than Castiel. Cas looked like someone you could trust. His eyes were cold, but they were sincere. This stranger, however…there was something in his eyes, something that made Allie feel uneasy.

"This is Uriel," Castiel told them. "He's what you might call a specialist."

"What kind of specialist?" Dean asked as Uriel moved closer to them. Neither of the angels replied. Uriel stared between the three Winchesters. He made Allie more and more uncomfortable by the minute. Castiel stared at the other angel. Allie sensed that he was unhappy about something. "What are you gonna do?"

"The three of you need to leave this town immediately," said Castiel, ignoring Dean's questions.

"Why?" Dean questioned.

"Because we're about to destroy it."

"Destroy it?" Allie repeated, finally finding her voice for the first time since finding the angels in the room.

"Yes," Cas replied. He looked her right in the face for the first time since the night in the barn several weeks earlier. In the brighter light, he could see her features more clearly. They were delicate, framed by her long, golden blonde hair, but her light blue eyes conveyed great strength and courage. She carried herself very confidently. Castiel thought again that she was beautiful. The angel was taken aback by her.

"So this is your plan?" Dean questioned angrily. "You're just gonna smite the whole freakin' town?"

"We're out of time," Castiel replied, pulling his eyes away from the girl. "This witch has to die. The seal must be saved."

"There are a thousand innocent people in this town," Allie said, angry that this was what the angels did when they needed something done.

"One thousand, two hundred, and fourteen," Uriel corrected nonchalantly.

"And you're willing to kill them all?" Sam asked.

"This isn't the first time I've purified a city," Uriel stated.

Allie glanced over at Castiel. He didn't look happy about this plan.

"Look," Castiel said uncomfortably. "I understand this is regrettable."

"Regrettable," Dean repeated with a short laugh.

"We have to hold the line. Too many seals have already broken."

"So you screw the pooch on some seals and now this town is gonna pay the price?"

"It's the lives of one thousand against the lives of six billion. There's a bigger picture here."

"Right, cause, uh, you're bigger picture kinda guys."

"Lucifer cannot rise," Cas said again, this time more forcefully, and took another step toward Dean. He wasn't sure how this was going to play out, but he had faith that the right thing would occur. He was hoping that this would end well, especially with the Winchesters here. "He does and Hell rises with him. Is that something that you're willing to risk?"

"We'll stop this witch before she summons anyone," Sam said. "Your seal won't be broken and no one has to die."

"We're wasting time with these mud monkeys," Uriel complained insultingly.

Allie turned to look at him. All of her life, she had believed in God and angels, believed they were good, that they watched over humans. Now, she didn't know what to think. These two angels were about to wipe an entire town off the face of the Earth just to stop one little witch. Uriel seemed like he was happy to obey these orders. How was he an angel of the Lord, if he was so vengeful?

"I'm sorry," Castiel said as he turned away from the Winchesters. He didn't like this plan at all, but they had been given an order. They couldn't disobey. "But we have our orders."

"No, you can't do this," Sam argued. "You're angels. I mean, aren't you supposed to-you're supposed to show mercy!"

"Says who?" countered Uriel.

"We have no choice," stated Castiel. Unfortunately, that was all too true. There was no choice for them, no free will, if you were a good soldier of Heaven. You did as you were told, nothing more, nothing less.

"Of course you have a choice," said Dean. "I mean come on, you've never questioned a crap order? What are you both? Just a couple of hammers?"

"Even if you can't understand it, have faith," Castiel stated. "The plan is just."

"How can killing twelve hundred people be just?" Allie demanded of the angel angrily.

"Because it comes from Heaven. That makes it just."

"It must be nice," Dean said quietly, "to be so sure of your selves."

"Tell me something, Dean. When your father gave you an order, didn't you obey?"

The angel had a point there. Dean had never questioned John. He had always done exactly what their father had told him to do.

"Well, sorry boys. Looks like the plan's been changed," Dean said.

"You think you can stop us?" Uriel asked incredulously.

"No," Dean replied. He closed the distance between himself and Uriel. "But if you're gonna smite this town, you're gonna have to smite us with it, because we are not leaving." He paused and shot a quick glance at Castiel. "See, you went through the trouble of busting me outta Hell, I figure I'm worth something to the man upstairs. So you wanna waste me? Go ahead, see how He takes it."

"I'll drag you out of here myself," Uriel said with quiet ferocity.

"Yeah, but you'll have to kill me. Then we're back to the same problem. Come on. You're gonna wipe out a whole town for one little witch? Sounds to me like you're compensating for something."

Allie groaned to herself. Leave it to her brother to be such a smartass at a time like this.

Dean turned away from Uriel. "We can do this," he said to the other angel, who seemed to be more agreeable. "We will find that witch and we will stop the summoning."

"Castiel!" Uriel yelled, raising a hand. "I will not let these two-"

"Enough," Castiel said, raising his hand too. Uriel stopped midsentence. Castiel was glad that Dean was refusing to leave. It meant that they wouldn't have to take action. "I suggest you move quickly," he said to Dean.

Dean nodded. He lead the way back to the Impala.

"Uh-oh," Allie said as they approached the car. It was covered in egg. That was not good. There was nothing that pissed Dean off more than someone messing with his baby. A year ago, a woman that they kept butting heads with, Bela, took the Impala and moved it to a tow away zone. Sam and Allie were sure he was going to snap. Allie had never seen him so angry. He had even asked if he could shoot her. "Not in public," had been Sam's response.

Dean walked around to his side of the car, his face full of rage. Sam and Allie looked at each other, both trying not to laugh. Dean turned away from the egg-covered car. "Astronaut!" he roared.

Allie laughed silently as they all climbed into the car. In the front seat, Sam played with the hex bag that Castiel had found in their room.

"What?" Dean asked, able to tell that something was bothering his brother.

"Nothing," Sam replied. He looked down at the hex bag in his hands. "I thought they'd be different."

"Who? The angels?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I tried to tell you."

"I just…I thought they'd be righteous."

Dean nodded and shrugged. "Well they are righteous. That's kinda the problem. 'Cause there's nothing more dangerous than some a-hole who thinks he's on a holy mission."

Dean's words reminded Allie of a case they had worked once. Two different people went out and committed murder, then claimed they had been visited by an angel who told them to do it, that the people they had killed were bad people that needed to die. The "angel" had visited Sam, too, showing him a sign to kill a guy. In the end, it turned out to be the ghost a priest who had been killed on the steps of his church and was unable to rest in peace. Sam, of course, was convinced it was an angel, until after he and Allie summoned the ghost to the church. One of the other priests with the church performed the last rites and he was able to move on. The man that Sam was supposed to kill ended up dead anyway. Dean had followed him, found him trying to rape his date, and chased him down. He crashed his car and was impaled through the heart with a pipe.

"But I mean, this is God?" Sam continued, bringing Allie back to the back seat of the Impala. "And Heaven? This is what I've been praying to?"

"Look, I know both of you are into the whole God thing," Dean said. "Jesus on a tortilla and stuff like that. But just because there's a couple bad apples, that doesn't mean the whole barrel's rotten. I mean for all we know, God hates these jerks. Don't give up on this stuff, is all I'm saying. Babe Ruth was a dick, but baseball's still a beautiful game."

Allie thought about what she had seen in Castiel's face. She was not convinced that he was as bad as her brothers thought he was. Uriel was a different story. He really was a dick. There was no denying that.

Sam opened the hex bag. All the same things that were in the other two were in this one. He held up the charred bone and examined it carefully.

"Well, are you gonna figure out a way to find this witch?" Dean asked trying to lighten the mood. "Or are you just gonna sit there and finger your bone?"

Allie lost herself in thought for a moment. The bone was charred. It would have taken a hell of a lot of heat to do that to a human bone. And a thought struck her. She had taken art classes in high school, so she knew what could do it.

"Guys," she said, leaning forward. "Do you know how much heat it would take to char a bone like that?"

"No," Dean replied.

"A lot," Sam said.

"More than a fire or a kitchen oven," Allie said.

"Okay, Betty Crocker, what does that mean?" Dean asked.

"It means we make a stop," Sam stated, obviously catching on to Allie's train of thought.

* * *

Dean pulled to a stop in front of the high school once again and they made their way inside to the art room. Dean headed straight for the kiln, while Sam headed straight for Don's desk.

"So Tracy used the kiln to char the bone," Dean said. "What's the big deal?"

"You aren't quite there yet, Dean," Allie said as Sam dug around the stuff on the desk.

"That hex bag showed up in our room, not after we talked to Tracy," Sam said.

"After we talked to the teacher," Dean finished.

"Bingo, Einstein," Allie joked. Dean stuck his tongue out at her. "Real mature."

"Hey," Sam said, holding out a lock on the desk drawer. He picked up a hammer and pounded on the lock until it broke. Inside the drawer was a bowl full of bones. Allie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The sight was disturbing. "My God, those are all from children."

"And I'm guessing he's not saving them for the dog," Dean said.

* * *

Castiel stood by a bench in the park. He and Uriel watched as a woman walked by with three children dressed in their Halloween costumes. They were laughing and having fun as they made their way across the dark green grass. The angel couldn't help but admire the beauty of this planet.

"The decision's been made," Cas stated, watching the children disappear.

Uriel laughed. "By a mud monkey."

"You shouldn't call them that." Castiel couldn't understand why his brother, why many of his brothers detested the humans so. These humans were their father's creation. There was beauty in them, God's masterpiece. Especially Allie Winchester, Castiel thought to himself. He grimaced with that thought. He wasn't supposed to have thoughts like that.

"Well, that's what they are. Savages. Just plumbing on two legs."

"You're close to blasphemy," Castiel cautioned, turning to look at his brother. He looked away again. "There's a reason we were sent to save him. He has potential, he may succeed here." He sighed heavily and sat down on the bench next to Uriel. "At any rate, it's out of our hands." He rested his chin against his hands and stared absently at the ground.

"It doesn't have to be," Uriel said slowly.

"And what would you suggest?"

"That we drag Dean Winchester out of here and we blow this insignificant pinprick of the map."

"You know our true orders," Castiel replied, emphasizing each word. Even if the Winchesters failed, he wouldn't allow Uriel to even attempt it, especially not with Allie around. "Are you prepared to disobey?"

Uriel just stared at Castiel. He clearly didn't like their true orders. If he had his way, this town would already have been leveled, along with everyone in it. But Cas was counting on the Winchesters.


	8. Cause This is Thriller

_Okay, so I am trying my hardest to keep up with the updates. I have a few more chapter already done, so it will be fairly fast for now. But once those are posted, I don't know how often I will have chances to post. Nursing school is like selling your soul to the devil. I think I must have made a cross-roads deal or something haha. But I am done in May and it will be worth it in the end. So anyway, here is chapter 8. I think the title is pretty obvious for this one. I thought it was a good title with the zombies, and I had to add the part where Allie comments on it. _

_So anyway, enjoy:)_

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Allie stared in shock at the scene before her. They had tracked down the art teacher, Don, and had found him in his basement, knife raised, ready to bring it down, straight into Tracy's chest. Sam and Dean fired shots at the witch's back, and Allie rushed forward to cut the ropes that bound Tracy's hands above her head from the ceiling.

"Thank you. He was gonna kill me," Tracy stated. She groaned in disbelief and anger. "That sick son-of-a-bitch! I mean, did you see what he was doing? Did you hear him?" For someone who had nearly been a human sacrifice, she was taking things a little too well, Allie thought. "How sloppy his incantation was?"

"Oh, crap," Allie gasped. Tracy was a witch after all. And they just made the last sacrifice.

"My brother always was a little dim," Tracy continued. Sam and Dean started to pull their guns back out, but the witch was too quick. She raised her hand and recited a spell in Latin. All three Winchesters were knocked backwards. Allie felt as if she had been hit in the gut with a battering ram. "He was gonna make me the final sacrifice. His idea. But now, that honor goes to him. Our master's return? The spellwork's a two-man job, you understand? So for six-hundred years, I had to deal with that pompous son-of-a-bitch. Planning, preparing." She knelt down next to her brother's lifeless body. "Unbearable. The whole time I wanted to rip his face off." She picked up the knife and chalice he had dropped and pressed the knife to one of the bullet wounds in his chest, making blood seep out of the hole into the chalice. She let out a short laugh. "Then you get him with a gun. Ugh, I love that." She stood and walked back over to the altar. "You know back in the day, this was the one night you kept your children inside. Well, tonight, you'll all see what Halloween really is." She started saying the incantation, raising the cup of blood.

"What do we do now?" Allie asked quietly, clutching her stomach.

Sam, grimacing in pain, inched closer to the body. He stuck his hand in the puddle of blood and smeared it over his face.

"What are you doing?" Dean questioned.

"Just follow my lead," Sam replied, smearing blood on Dean and Allie's faces as well. He then closed his eyes and laid perfectly still. Allie and Dean looked each other. She shrugged, and they both did the same as Sam. Allie's heart started racing frantically as she heard the floor beneath them crack open, and felt a gust of wind as the demon was released from Hell. She risked a glance, opening her eyes only a slightly. Don's dead body was no longer laying lifelessly on the floor, but upright and kissing Tracy, possessed by Samhain. Gross, she thought as she closed her eyes again.

"My love," Tracy said quietly.

"You've aged." The voice was different from Don's.

"This face. I can't fool you."

"Your beauty is beyond time." There was a sickening crack, followed by a light thud. "Whore."

Allie held her breath as footsteps approached. But then they faded until the basement door was opened, and then closed again. She let out a long breath as she looked at her brothers.

"What the hell was that?" Dean whispered, just in case Samhain was still within hearing range.

"Halloween lore," Sam replied. "People used to wear masks to hide from him, so I gave it a shot."

"Nice, Sammy," Allie said sarcastically.

"It worked, didn't it?" Sam retorted.

"Don't go feeling special because it did," Dean instructed as she pushed himself up off the floor. He held out a hand to help Allie to her feet.

"Guess the feeling wasn't mutual," she said, nodding her head at Tracy's body. Her head was twisted at a disturbing angle.

"I guess you could say that," Dean replied. "Let's go."

"Where are we gonna find this mook?" Dean asked as they crossed the street toward the Impala, wiping the blood from their faces.

"Where would you go to raise all the dark forces of the night?" Sam replied.

"Cemetery," Dean stated.

"Yeah."

They climbed into the Impala, and Dean sped down the road. There were kids in costumes everywhere. Allie shuddered to think what would happen to them if she and her brothers were too late to stop Samhain.

"So this demon's pretty powerful," Sam stated.

"Ya think," Allie replied.

Sam took a nervous deep breath. "Might take more than the usual weapons."

"No!" Allie argued. "Don't even think about it, Sam."

"But-" Sam tried to protest.

"She's right," Dean interrupted. "You aren't using your psychic-whatever the Hell it is. Ruby's knife is enough."

"Why?" Sam demanded.

"Because the angels said so, for one."

"I thought you said they were a bunch of fanatics."

"Well, they happen to be right about this one."

"Yes, they do," Allie agreed, happy that Dean shared her opinion on this.

"I don't know," Sam argued. "It doesn't seem like they're right about much."

"Just forget the angels, okay? You said yourself, these powers, it's like playing with fire." Dean picked up Ruby's knife and held it out to Sam. "Please."

Sam took it, reluctantly. They all fell silent.

"Guys," Allie said as they pulled into the cemetery. "There's a light coming from that mausoleum."

Dean pulled up next to it. The door was slightly ajar. They made their way inside, weapons raised. They could hear screams of panic and terror. Down inside, there was a group of teenagers in costumes, locked behind a gate. The covers on the tombs were starting to shake. The dead were starting to rise.

"Help them," Sam said.

"I'll come with you," Allie said, starting to follow him.

"No, just get them out of there."

"Dude, you're not going off alone," Dean argued.

"Just do it!" Sam shouted and took off.

"Alright," Dean shouted, turning back to the trapped teenagers. "Stand back! Stand back!"

Thankfully, they listened and moved back from the gate. Dean fired a bullet at the lock and kicked the gate in. It flew open.

"Go, go, go!" Allie cried, as the tombs started opening up. "Run!"

They didn't need to be told twice. They all started running for the exit.

"Get out!" Dean yelled. "Move!"

"This is not good," Allie groaned as a zombie crawled out of its crypt, quickly followed by another one. "It's like we're in the 'Thriller' video, minus Michael Jackson and the cool music."

"Bring it on, Stinky," Dean said, assuming the position.

They both fought against the zombies, taking them both down. Then the ghost of a woman in business suit appeared.

"Dean!" Allie called.

He turned and swung his metal stake at her, but she disappeared, only to reappear behind him. She flung them both back into the wall.

"Zombie-ghost orgy, huh?" Dean said, sitting up. "Well, that's it. We're torching everybody."

After lighting up the entire room, they went looking for Sam. When they found him, his hand was raised toward Samhain, his face contorted in concentration and pain. Dean and Allie watched as the demon struggled against some invisible barrier toward Sam. Sam pressed a hand to his forehead as black smoke began pouring from the demon's mouth. Sam's nose was starting to bleed. Allie stared on in horror as the dead body of Don Harding collapsed, the demon smoke disappearing into the floor.

"Sam?" Allie said.

He slowly looked up at his brother and sister. Shame was painted on his face.

Knowing that he'd been using his powers had been bad enough…but seeing it was a different story. It was too much for her to handle. She shook her head before turning and walking out without her brothers.

Castiel found Dean sitting on a bench at the park. It was a beautiful place. The angel was thankful it was all still there as he sat down on the other bench.

"Let me guess," Dean said. "You're here for the 'I told you so.'"

"No," Castiel replied honestly.

"Well, good, cause I'm not really all that interested."

"I am not here to judge you, Dean."

"Then why are you here?"

"Our orders-"

"Yeah, I've had enough of these orders of yours."

"Our orders were not to stop the summoning of Samhain," the angel admitted. "They were to do whatever you told us to do."

"Your orders were to follow my orders?"

"It was a test…to see how you would perform under battlefield conditions, you might say."

"It was a witch, not the Tet Offensive," Dean stated sounding skeptical. Cas let out a short laugh. "So I failed your test, huh? I get it. But you know what? If you were to wave that magic, time-traveling wand of yours and we had to do it all over again, I'd make the same call. See, I don't know what's gonna happen when these seals are broken. Hell, I don't even know what's gonna happen tomorrow. But what I do know is that this here…these kids, the swings, the trees…it's all here because of my brother and sister and me."

"You misunderstand me, Dean," Castiel said, watching Dean's expression. "I'm not like you think. I was praying you'd chose to save the town."

"You were?"

"These people," he said slowly, "they are all my Father's creations." He leaned forward watching a group of children playing, chasing after one another. "They are works of art. And yet, even though you stopped Samhain, the seal was still broken. And we are one step closer to Hell on Earth for all creation. And that's not an expression, Dean. It's literal. You, of all people, should appreciate what that means." He paused before saying what he wanted to say next. "Can I tell you something if you promise not to tell another soul?"

"Okay."

"I'm not a hammer, as you say," he admitted. "I have questions. I…I have doubts. I don't know what is right and what is wrong anymore, whether you passed or failed here. But in the coming months, you will have more decisions to make. I…don't envy the weight that's on your shoulders, Dean. I truly don't." The two of them stared at each other for a long moment. Castiel was being completely honest with Dean. The human's life was about to get more complicated, especially if he found out why the angels had really walked into Hell to save him. But Castiel would do his best to keep that little bit of information from him. Dean looked away. Castiel looked around at his surroundings and noticed Allie standing nearby. He couldn't help noticing the way her golden-blonde waves caught the sunlight. She seemed to glow from it. He wondered if she had heard any of his conversation with Dean. She gave him a small smile, making him feel a little uneasy.

Allie watched the angel disappear in disappointment. She had heard most of the conversation that had just occurred and was relieved. The way he spoke…maybe he wasn't as bad as her brothers thought after all.

Dean turned, looking for the angel, but saw only his sister instead. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, big brother," she replied. "You know you kind of look like a creepy perv sitting here watching the kids without one of your own."

"Hilarious, Al."

"Yeah, I know." She sat down next to him on the bench and stared out at the carefree children. "I know you've been lying, Dean."

"About what?"

"About Hell. You said you don't remember anything from your tour, but I know you do. I can see it in your eyes." She turned to look at him. "Sam doesn't see it because he doesn't want to, but I can see it. And I can tell it's torturing you. I won't ask you to tell me about it. I don't think I really want to know what you went through down there. But you can't run from it forever, Dean. You've got to face it head on eventually before it makes you go completely crazy."

"You're probably right. But for now I'm just going to forget that it ever happened."

"Dean-"

"No, Allie. I'm fine, so just let it go."

She debated arguing some more with him. She could see the way it was torturing him, unable to even imagine what kind of things had happened to him in the four months that he was lost within the depths of Hell. Dean was stubborn and did not like to talk feelings, so Allie knew he was not going to cooperate and talk to her, at least not yet. She stared at his profile, wishing she could make things better for him.

"Well, just know that if you do want to talk," she said, "I'm here, Dean. You don't have to go through this alone."


	9. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

_So I caught a lucky break this week. My health care ethics class is online, and the site was not working properly. Professor had to shut the whole thing down and let us off for the week. So I decided to take just a few minutes and update. I only have a few more chapters finished, so after I run out, it will be slow coming. But for now here is chapter 9: A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, taken of course from one of the greatest Disney movies ever, Cinderella. _

_P.S.: A big thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter. And to Yay 4 Taz, don't worry, there is some more Cas/Allie moments coming up very soon. I just don't want to rush it, so I'm giving it a slow build._

_Anyway, enjoy!_

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Allie raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of her and her brothers. They were in Concrete, Washington, on what they had originally believed to be a ghost case. They found no evidence, however, to the claim that a woman had been chased by a ghost in the shower at a spa. Then they met a man named Gus who had claimed to have been attacked by Big Foot. He pointed them in the direction in which the alleged attack had taken place. There, they found a really big footprint. They followed a trail of them all the way to a liquor store. And, of course, the liquor store had been broken into, alcohol and porno mags missing from the shelves. Dean found a clump of hair on one of the shelves.

The three of them had gone back outside and sat down on a bench, trying to figure out the craziness that seemed to be happening in Concrete. There had to be some kind of explanation for it, something a little less insane. Every hunter knew that Big Foot was a hoax. Sam was convinced that it was some kind of joke, some jerk in a gorilla costume. Dean, on the other hand, believed that it was Big Foot after all. Allie had no idea what to think

Then the really strange part happened, leading them to where they were now. A little girl, who looked around seven years old, rode past them on her bicycle. Out of the box on the back of the bike flew a magazine. The Winchesters walked over to it, and Allie bent down to pick it up.

"A little young for _Busty Asian Beauties_," Dean said as they watched the little girl ride on.

"Seriously," Allie said. "What is going _on _in this town?"

They followed the little girl to the back of the liquor store where the girl placed the box. Inside were more porno mags, a couple bottles of alcohol, and a note that read "sorry." They quickly made their way back to the Impala and followed the girl home.

"What is this, like a _Harry and the Henderson's _deal?" Dean said as they walked to the front door of the house.

"Hello?" the little girl said as she opened the door.

"Hi, sweetheart," Allie said with a smile. "Are your parents home?"

"Nope."

"No," Sam stated.

"Um, have you seen a really, really furry-?" Dean started to ask.

"Is he in trouble?" the girl asked, scared.

The Winchesters exchanged looks. "No, no, no. Not at all," Sam replied. "We just-"

"We just wanted to make sure he's okay," Allie finished for him.

"Exactly," Dean agreed enthusiastically.

"He's my teddy," the girl said. She lowered her voice as she continued. "I think he's sick."

"Wow," Sam replied. "Uh-"

"Amazing," Dean said. "Because you know what? We are, uh-" He cleared his throat and reached into his pocket, pulling out his fake CDC badge. "Teddy bear doctors." He really did know how to think on his feet. He gestured at Allie. "And she's a nurse."

"Really?" the little girl asked hopefully. "Can you please take a look at him?"

"Sure," the three of them chorused.

The girl lead them upstairs. The house was exactly the kind of house Allie had always pictured herself living in, if they had been able to live normal lives. She easily pictured herself living in the house, surrounded by pictures of herself, Dean, Sam with Jessica, and their parents. But she wasn't alone in the house. Out of nowhere, she saw Castiel by her side, cuddling on the couch. _Oh, I'm going to Hell for this_, she thought to herself, casting the image aside.

"He's in the bedroom," the little girl said when they reached the top of the stairs. "He's pretty grumpy." She knocked on the white door. "Teddy? There's some nice doctors here to see you." She turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

Allie had seen some really insane things in her twenty-five years, but this one definitely took the cake on crazy. Inside the bedroom, the television was on, a newscaster reporting a coalmine collapse in Ohio. And sitting in front of it on the edge of the bed, rocking back and forth and chugging form a bottle of alcohol, was…a giant, life-sized…teddy bear.

"Close the frigging door!" the bear demanded.

"See what I mean?" the girl asked.

"Did you guys just see a talking, overgrown teddy bear watching TV and drinking hard liquor?" Allie asked as the little girl pulled the door shut. Allie's eyes didn't move.

"Yeah," Sam replied in disbelief.

"Oh, good," Allie said as her brothers slowly turned toward each other. "I thought maybe I had finally gone completely insane."

The little girl stared up at the Winchesters. "All I ever wanted was a teddy which was big, real, and talked. But now, he's sad all the time, not 'ouch' sad, but 'ouch-in-the-head sad,' says weird stuff, and smells like the bus."

"Um, little girl-" Dean started awkwardly.

"Audrey," she corrected him, adding a little attitude.

"Audrey," he repeated. "How exactly did your teddy become real?"

"I wished for it."

"You wished for it?" Sam echoed.

"At the wishing well."

Dean moved forward and opened the door, entering the room carefully.

"Look at this," the bear whined. He pointed at the TV, which was now showing footage of an explosion. "Do you believe this crap?"

"Not really," Dean answered.

"It is a _terrible _world," the bear continued. "Why am I here?" Sam and Allie exchanged looks. This was really, _really _messed up.

"For tea parties," Audrey stated, sounding annoyed at the bear.

"Tea parties? Is that all there is?" He started sobbing as the news changed to a plane that nearly crashed.

Dean turned slowly and rejoined the others in the hall without another word. He looked at his siblings, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"Audrey, give us a second, okay?" Sam said.

"Okay," she replied, nodding solemnly.

"Okay."

The Winchesters moved away from the little girl. Sam opened his mouth to speak, struggling to find the right words. "Are we-? Should we-? Uh-." He lowered his voice so that it was a barely audible whisper. "Are we gonna kill this teddy bear?"

"How, huh?" Dean asked. "We shoot it, burn it?"

"I don't think we can kill it," Allie responded. "It's made of cloth and stuffing."

"Well, I don't want some giant, flaming, pissed-off teddy on our hands," Dean said.

"Yeah. Besides, I get the feeling that the bear isn't the, you know, core problem here," Sam said. He then turned back to Audrey. "Audrey, where are you parents?"

"My mom wished they were in Bali, so I think they're in Bali," she responded.

Allie sighed heavily. This case was just plain screwed up.

"Okay, well, I'm really sorry to have to break this to you," Sam said, "but your bear is sick. Yeah, he's got…" He looked to Dean and Allie for help.

"Lollipop disease," Dean said quickly.

"Lollipop disease," Sam repeated. Allie just nodded in agreement, trying not to laugh.

"It's not uncommon for a bear his size," Dean went on. "But you see, it's really contagious."

"Yes, contagious," Allie said. "Is there a grown-up you can stay with while we get Teddy all better?"

"Mrs. Hurley lives down the street," Audrey replied.

"Perfect," Dean said.

"Yeah, good. We'd like you to stay there for a few days, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

"Oh, and Audrey," Dean said. "Where is this wishing well?"

"At the Chinese restaurant," she replied. "A girl in my class told me about it."

"Okay, thank you so much, Audrey," Allie said as she bent down to the girl's eye level. "Why don't you get your stuff to go stay with Mrs. Hurley?" As Audrey went to pack her stuff, Allie turned to Dean, an eyebrow raised. "Lollipop disease?"

"It was the first thing that came to mind," he replied. "And she bought it."

They waited for Audrey to get packed, and then they took her to Mrs. Hurley's house. Allie had lied through her teeth, saying that she was a good friend of Audrey's parents, and that they'd had an emergency, leaving the girl with her, but she had to work, so she had been hoping that Audrey could stay with her until her parents got back into town. The woman agreed whole-heartedly, saying that Audrey was a great kid and would be happy to take her anytime.

After Audrey was settled there, the Winchesters went to the Chinese restaurant, Lucky Chen's.

"Think it works?" Dean asked as they stood over the Buddha wishing well.

"You got a better explanation for teddy back there?" Sam replied.

"Well, there's one way to find out," Dean said, digging in his pocket for a coin.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Allie asked. "I mean…bipolar teddy?"

"We have to see if it works."

She shook her head and let him do it. If he was willing to do it, more power to him.

"What are you gonna wish for?" Sam inquired.

"Sh," Dean protested as he tossed his penny into the water. "Not supposed to tell."

"You're such a dork," Allie said with a laugh.

"Somebody order a foot-long Italian with jalapeño?" a man asked holding up a sub.

"That'd be me," Dean stated, staring at Sam and Allie, before all three of them turned back to the well once more.

"I think it works," Allie said.

* * *

"I really think it works, dude," Dean said as Sam and Allie watched him scarf down his sub. Allie hated it when he talked with his mouth full, which was not unusual for Dean; he didn't really have any manners. "That was pretty specific."

"The teddy bear, the sandwich," Sam listed.

"Mmm, and I'm guessing this," Dean said holding up the newspaper. On the front page was an article about a man winning the $168 million lottery.

"And that," Allie said, nodding at the blissful couple at the table across from them. The man wasn't necessarily ugly, but he wasn't anything special. He was actually a little on the nerdy side. But the woman who was feeding him…she could have been on the cover a magazine. She was gorgeous. Maybe they really were in love, but it did seem a little far-fetched that a woman like that would give that kind of guy a second look.

"Oh, that definitely goes on the list," Dean agreed. "What are we supposed to do, huh? Stop people's wishes from coming true? That sounds like kind of a douchey-thing to do."

"Yeah, maybe," Sam replied. "But come on, man, when does something like this ever come without a price tag? And usually a deadly one."

"Hm, I don't know," Dean replied. "This is a damn good sandwich." He took another bite of it. Allie shook her head at her older brother. Sometimes it was hard to believe that they three of them were really siblings. "All right, fine. We'll put a hold on the wishing til we figure out what's what."

"Gentlemen," the restaurant's owner said coming to their table. Allie was a little annoyed at him for only acknowledging her brothers. "I'm sorry. We don't allow outside food here."

"Well, I'm certainly not gonna eat the inside food _here_," Dean replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an ID. It obviously wasn't the one he wanted, so he replaced it and reached into another pocket. This time he found the one he wanted and held it out. "Health department. You, my friend, have a rat infestation. We've got to shut this place down under Emergency Hazard code 56C."

"Rats?" the man exclaimed.

Allie shrugged. She felt bad, putting this man through this, but she couldn't see any other way of getting to the wishing well without breaking in during the night, and she wasn't really up for that. So they steered everyone out of the restaurant and set to work on the well. They checked everything, even drained the water, but there was nothing unusual about it.

"It's a typical fountain, plaster Buddha," Dean stated. "Nothing I can see."

"Yes, nothing," the owner said. "We keep a clean place here." He gave them two thumbs up.

"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave during the preliminary investigation," Sam said. "Okay? Thank you."

The old man walked away, leaving the Winchesters to their work.

"Oh come on," Dean said. "Aren't either of you even a little bit tempted?"

Allie didn't respond. She was extremely tempted. The first thought that crossed her mind when she started thinking about making a wish was of a certain trench-coat wearing angel, but certainly nothing good could come of that.

Sam laughed. "No, it wouldn't be real. Wouldn't trust it."

"I don't know, that bear seemed real."

"Yeah."

"Come on, if you could wish your self back, before it all started. Think about it, you'd be some big yuppie lawyer with a nice car, a white picket fence."

"Not what I'd wish for."

"Seriously?"

"It's too late to go back to our old lives, Dean. I'm not that guy anymore."

"All right, well what then? Hmm? What would Sammy wish for?"

"Lilith's head on a plate. Bloody."

Sam's response scared Allie. It sounded like something John would have said. Sam was starting to act more and more like their father all the time. Allie couldn't fight the fear that Sam would meet the same fate that John had.

"Okay," Dean replied. "What about you, Al? Johnny Depp?"

"No," she replied. "I really don't think you would want to know what I would wish for. I think I'll just keep this one to myself." She was sure that they wouldn't like the fact that she wanted their angel friend.

"Yeah, maybe that's a good idea," Dean said. He stopped and cocked his head slightly. "What is that?" He bent over the well and rubbed one of the coins.

"Some kind of old coin," Sam said. "I don't recognize the markings."

"It looks ancient," Allie said as Dean tried to pick it up. It wouldn't budge.

"Damn," he cursed, trying to wiggle it, though it was no use.

"Lift with your legs," Sam teased.

"Gah! What is that thing, welded on there?"

Sam gave it a try, but, again, it didn't budge. "I don't get it."

"Crow bar?" Dean suggested.

Allie waited by the well while her brothers went out to the Impala. They came back a few minutes later, armed with a crow bar and a mallet. The owner followed them back to the well. Dean placed the end of the crow bar against the side of the coin and pushed as hard as he could.

"Hey, what is this?" the owner demanded. "You are gonna break my fountain!"

"Sir, I don't wanna slap you with a 44-slash-16, but I will," Sam warned. The man looked between the three of them before turning and walking away. "All right, thank you."

"Let me see that," Dean said reaching for the mallet. "I've got an idea."

He placed the crow bar against the coin again. Then, raising the mallet over his head, he brought it down against the crow bar as hard as he could. The mallet broke with the force, sending the heavy metal head flying in Allie's direction. She was thankful that she had quick reflexes and ducked out of the way before it smashed into her. It landed at the owner's feet. He looked up at the Winchesters in alarm and anger.

"Damn," Dean said, staring at the splintered piece of wood in his hand.

"Coin's magical," Sam stated.

"Well, I'd say," Dean replied. "I think it's Hoodoo is protecting the well."

Sam pulled a piece of paper and a paper out of his breast pocket. He knelt down and, holding the paper over the top of the coin, carefully rubbed the pencil over it so they could research the symbols.

"I don't think we can destroy this," Dean continued.

"All right, here," Sam said handing the paper to Dean. "You gotta look into this."

"Where are you going?" Dean asked him.

"Something just occurred to me."

Dean looked at Allie as Sam took off out the door. She just shrugged. The owner, who had watched Sam leave, turned back to the other two with a sour expression. Dean smiled and held up the paper in his hand.

"Well, uh, we'll be back to finish up our investigation later, sir," Allie said dragging Dean out the door by the arm.


	10. A Simple Wish

_So, I thought I would update again. No Cas again in this chapter, but he will be making a come back soon. There will be a really big moment between Allie and our favorite angel coming within the next few chapters. So anyway, here is chapter 10: A Simple Wish, taken from a movie instead of a song. It was kinda hard to find songs to use for all the chapters, so I decided to throw in some movies too, when appropriate._

_P.S.: Keep the reviews coming. I want to know what you think.

* * *

_

As Dean and Allie emerged from Lucky Chen's they saw three young boys running down the street…from another boy half their size. They had already seen this kid twice since arriving in Concrete. The first time, he had been the one being chased by the three boys who were now running from him. The second time had been inside Lucky Chen's, dropping a coin into the wishing well. Allie had no doubt the scene before them had something to do with a wish.

"You better run!" the boy screamed after the others. He stopped when he noticed Allie and Dean watching him. "You got a problem, mister?" he asked Dean.

"What?" Dean responded. "No."

He turned to Allie. "Do you, lady?"

"Um, no?" Allie answered, the tone of her voice making it sound more like a question. The kid took off running again. "This just keeps getting crazier."

They started walking again. It took Allie a moment to notice when Dean stopped a second time. She turned toward him. He had one hand against his stomach and suddenly looked a little pale.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, fine."

But he wasn't fine. As soon as they walked through the door of their hotel room, he ran for the bathroom. Allie tried not to pay much attention to the loud retching noises coming from within the bathroom as she looked for the coin on Sam's laptop. When she found it, she went to check on Dean, who had not come back out. She cracked open the door. He was sitting in front of the toilet, his head in his hands.

"You okay?" she asked trying not to laugh.

"No," he groaned in reply.

"I think your wish went south. Maybe you shouldn't have wished for food."

As the word "food" escaped her lips, Dean bent over the toilet again. "Did you find anything on the coin yet?" he asked as he reemerged.

"I did," she replied, sitting down in the doorway. "It's Babylonian. And cursed, of course."

"Cursed?"

"Yep. The serpent on the coin is a symbol for the god of primordial chaos, named Tiamet. It was made by her priests with some serious black magic. Once someone uses the coin in a wishing well, the well gets turned on, and every wish is granted. But the wishes get twisted in some way, like the psycho bear…and your wish. And the only way to reverse it is to have the person who threw it in the first place take it back it."

"Well that's just great," Dean replied. "Talk about a needle in a haystack. How are we supposed to figure out who made the first wish?" He gagged and leaned over the bowl again.

"I'll just leave the two of you alone," Allie joked, closing the door behind her.

As she crossed back to the table, Sam walked into the room, as more retching sounds came from the bathroom.

"Dean?" Sam asked.

"Wishes go bad, Sam," Dean replied through the door. "Wishes turn very bad."

"The sandwich, huh?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, he's been in there since we got back," Allie told Sam.

"Find the coin?" Sam asked as Dean came out of the bathroom, wiping his mouth with a hand towel.

"Yes, I did." Allie told him everything she'd already told Dean, who took a beer out of the fridge as she was filling Sam in. "Seriously?" she asked him.

"What?" Dean asked.

"You've been puking your guts out for the last hour, and now you're drinking a beer?"

"Beer settles my stomach."

"How is he related to us?" Allie asked Sam.

"I think we're adopted," Sam replied.

"Allie looks too much like Mom," Dean retorted with a satisfied grin.

"Then you're the one who's adopted," Sam countered.

"You two are so mean."

"You know we love you, jerk," Allie said with a laugh.

"Yeah, whatever, bitch," Dean replied.

"So, is there anyway to stop this before we have complete chaos on our hands?" Sam asked.

"Find the person who threw the coin in and get them to pull it back out," Allie informed him. "Once that happens, every other wish is reversed, including Teddy."

"So for now, we've got a couple of nutso dreams come true," said Dean, "but once the word gets out about the well, things are just gonna get crazier and crazier."

* * *

Sam and Allie started trying to trace all of the crazy events that had recently occurred in Concrete as far back as possible to find the first wisher. Dean had looked exhausted after the food poisoning incident, so Allie convinced him to lay down and try to get some rest.

It wasn't long before Dean started becoming restless. Allie watched his face contort into a grimace as unknown images flashes through his mind. She had noticed him doing just the same thing more and more frequently. He was being haunted by terrifying memories from his time down under, and Allie knew it, even if he wouldn't admit to it. She wished she could make it go away. There was nothing worse for her than watching her brothers suffer.

"Dean, wake up!" Sam said loudly.

"What?" Dean asked, jumping up. "I'm up. What?" He struggled to catch his breath.

"You sleep well?" Sam asked.

Dean reached down and picked up a bottle of scotch. "Tanned, rested, and ready," he replied before taking a swig.

"Dean, come on, man," Sam said. "You think we can't see it?"

"See what?" Dean asked.

"Sam, not now," Allie said quietly.

"The nightmares, the drinking," Sam continued, ignoring his sister. "We're with you 24/7. We know something's going on."

"Sam," Allie said again. She didn't want him to go there, but she didn't want him to know that she had already had this conversation with Dean.

"Sam, please," Dean replied.

"Uriel wasn't lying, but you are. You remember Hell, don't you?"

"What do you want from me?" Dean stood and walked around the bed. "What?"

"The truth, Dean. I mean, I'm your brother. I just wish you'd talk to me."

"Careful what you wish for."

"Cute."

Dean reached around and grabbed a newspaper off the counter behind him. "Come on, can we stow the couple's therapy? We're on a job. I wanna work. Whattaya got?" Sam didn't respond. "Please?"

"We got teddy bear, lottery guy, invisible pervert guy. They all must have wished sometime in the last two weeks."

"And don't forget Audrey's parents, and the odd couple at Lucky Chen's," Allie added.

"Right, but how do we know who wished first?" Sam asked. "And how are we supposed to know who wished for what?"

"Well, it helps when they announce it in the paper," Dean said. He threw the paper down on the table and pointed to a picture in the announcements. The couple. "Goes back a month."

"'Wesley Mondale and Ms. Hope Lynn Casey have announced their surprise engagement,'" Sam read aloud.

"Ah, true love," Dean joked.

"Best lead we got," Sam said.

* * *

So this was what it all came down to now. Shattering the dreams of a good person. They had gone to see the happy couple. Wesley, or Wes, as he preferred to be called, had definitely wished for Hope to fall in love with him. And they couldn't help noticing his rare coin collection. But Allie could tell that Wes actually really did love Hope. Allie was starting to understand what it felt like to long for someone that was just beyond her reach, as a certain angel flashed across her thoughts again.

Wes sent Hope to make coffee, so he could explain what had happened with the coin. It had been given to him by his grandfather, who had told him it could really grant wishes, but should never be used. After his grandfather died, however, Wes decided to try it out. So he dropped it into the Buddha well at Lucky Chen's. When they told him that he needed to take the wish back, he'd refused, so Dean had to resort to intimidating him with his gun.

It was times like these that Allie really hated what she and her brothers did. Wes wasn't a bad person. Like everyone else, he just wanted to find love. He didn't have any money, he wasn't handsome, and he was probably the type of guy that was really awkward with women. Finding love wasn't easy for him, just like the Winchesters, with the life they had always led. So Allie really couldn't blame him for wishing for love. It was the only way he really knew how. And, had she not known better, Allie would have done the same thing. She would have wished for the mysterious, blue-eyed angel who she knew nothing about, but still mesmerized her each and every time she saw him. She felt sorry for Wes, because she knew what it was like to want someone you could never have, to be invisible to that person.

Dean pulled to a stop at an intersection. Nearby, the little boy from earlier was standing next to a rather large SUV. Inside the vehicle were the three other boys whom he had been chasing. All four of them watched from inside the Impala as the kid reached underneath the SUV and lifted it, turning it onto its side as it were no heavier than a paperweight.

"That's the insanity we were talking about," Allie said to a stunned Wes.

"Kneel before Todd!" the kid shouted toward the Heavens. "Kneel before Todd!" He started rocking the SUV back and forth slowly. The boys inside screamed in terror.

Dean climbed out of the car. "I'll handle Todd," he told Sam. "You two get Wes to Lucky Chen's. Go!"

"Right," Sam said, sliding over behind the wheel. Allie gazed on in horrified amazement at the chaos as Sam drove away from the boys.

"That-that kid turned over that car like it was nothing," Wes said when they got to Lucky Chen's.

"Should've seen the teddy bear," Sam replied. "Now come one. Fun's over. Time to pull the coin, Wes."

"Why can't we just get what we want?" Wes shouted at them.

"Because that's life, Wes."

"Look, Wes," Allie said. "If you don't pull the coin, someone will end up getting hurt. And what if that someone is Hope?" Out of the corner of her eye, Allie saw a single storm cloud approaching fast from over the restaurant. The sky was a perfect, clear blue except for that one cloud, which had seemed to come out of nowhere. "What the Hell?" she thought out loud.

Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning shot out of the cloud and struck Sam. He was thrown to the ground in a cloud of smoke.

"Oh my God! Sam!" Allie cried. She dropped to her knees next to him. "Sammy! Sammy, wake up!" She pulled his head into her lap and felt his neck for a pulse. There was nothing. "No, please. Please, Sammy. Not again." She hunched over her brother's lifeless body, tears streaming down her cheeks, not even noticing as Wes hurried to get inside Lucky Chen's.

Allie wasn't sure how much time passed. She just held tightly to Sam, unwilling to believe he was really gone. She couldn't handle losing one of her brothers again. But then suddenly, Sam drew in a sharp breath and sat up.

"Allie?" he gasped.

"Sam!" She flung her arms around his neck.

"What happened?"

"You, um, you were, uh, struck by lightning. You were dead. I don't-"

Before she could finish that last sentence, Hope emerged from the restaurant, looking confused as to how she'd gotten there. It must have been her that had wished for Sam to die. But if Sam was alive…that only could mean one thing. Wes had pulled the coin from the well.

"Wes," she said sadly.

He emerged a second later, a look of defeat painted on his face. He handed the coin to Sam.

"I'm so sorry, Wes," Allie said. She was on the verge of crying again as she looked him in the eye. They had just ripped the heart right out of this poor man's chest. "I really wish things could have been different."

"It's okay," he said sadly. "It wasn't real anyway." He slowly walked away from Sam and Allie.

Allie watched him go with a heavy heart. All she could think about was Castiel. Her brothers didn't really trust the angels, not even Cas, but somehow, she felt safe around him. Her heart seemed to skip a beat when she saw him, even though he had barely acknowledged her since the night in the barn. She was just a part of the scenery when he was around, kind of like Wes really was with Hope.

"Poor guy," Sam said, breaking into her thoughts.

Allie just nodded, her eyes glued to Wes's retreating back.

* * *

The next morning's headline read that the winning lottery ticket had been a fake. Audrey's parents were back from Bali, sporting sunburns. And Teddy was back to his normal self, though there was stuffing hanging out the back of his head. Allie wasn't sure of she even wanted to know why that was.

"Well, coin's melted down," Sam said as Audrey passed by with Teddy and her parents, giving Dean and Allie a quick wave. "Shouldn't cause anymore problems."

"Audrey's parents are back from Bali," Dean stated. "Looks like all the wishes are gone."

"And not all for the better," Allie said sadly, thinking of Wes once again. "Let's get out of this place."

They started walking down the boardwalk in silence. Allie couldn't get the devastated look on Wesley's face out of her mind. They had caused that. If it weren't for the Winchesters, he'd still have the girl of his dreams, even if it did need to be reversed. After all, Sam had gotten killed because of the whole damn situation. But that didn't make it any easier.

"Hang on a second," Dean said, coming to a stop.

"What?" Sam asked.

Dean seemed to struggle to find the right words to say. "You were right," he said evenly.

"About what?"

"I shouldn't have lied to you. I do remember everything that happened to me in the pit. Everything." He shook his head, as if doing so would get rid of all the terrible images that continued to haunt him.

"So tell me about it," Sam pleaded.

"No."

"Uh-"

"I won't lie anymore. But I'm not gonna talk about it."

"Dean, you can't just shoulder this thing alone. You gotta let us help."

"How? You really think a little heart-to-heart and some sharing and caring is gonna change anything? Huh? And somehow heal me? I'm not talking about a bad day here."

"I know that."

"The things that I saw…There aren't words. There is no forgetting. There's no making it better. Because it is right here, forever." He tapped the side of his head, then shrugged. "You wouldn't understand. Either of you. And I can never make you understand. So I am sorry."

"Dean," Allie said, forgetting about Wes. She reached out to her brother.

"Don't," he said, brushing her hand away from his arm. She let it hang there as he turned and walked away from his siblings.

Sam and Allie exchanged looks. Neither of them knew what to say or do to make things better for him. Not that it mattered because he wasn't going to let them help him through this anyway. He had inherited John's stubbornness. Sam placed a hand on Allie's shoulder briefly before they started following their older brother.


	11. Everything's So Blurry

_Here is chapter 11: Everything's so Blurry (from the song Blurry by Puddle of Mud). There is a huge moment coming up in chapter 14 between Allie and Cas, so stay tuned.

* * *

_

"All right, come on, man," Sam pleaded. "Just one more. Just give me a chance to win it back." He leaned over the pool table, pool stick in hand, as Dean and Allie watched.

"It's your cash," said the man Sam was playing against.

Allie tried hard to contain a smile. Sam had lulled the poor guy into a false sense of security. She had seen her brothers do this countless times, had even done it herself a few times. But there was a time when Sam refused to hustle pool. Now, he was just as good at it as Dean was. He lost several games on purpose, and then would bet a bigger amount and kick the guys ass.

"Excuse me," Dean said to the poor bastard. "My brother's a little sauced to be making bets."

"Hey, he insisted," the guy replied.

"Oh, come on," Allie said quietly, putting on her best smile. "He's not exactly the brightest light bulb on the strand, even when he's sober, ya know? So why don't you call it a night?"

"Yeah, sure, sweetheart. As long as you call it a night with me."

"Dude," Dean interrupted, trying to refrain from beating the crap out of the guy for hitting on his little sister. "You've already taken two bills off him. I'm just saying."

"Hey, shut up, Dean," Sam argued. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine. You're drunk."

"He's right, Sammy," Allie chimed in to play along. "Let's just go, okay?"

"Let's make it five hundred," Sam suggested, adding a slight slur to his words.

"Five hundred," Dean repeated in mock annoyance.

Sam pulled the money out of his pocket and held it up. He gave Dean and Allie a satisfied grin, knowing he would win.

"Five hundred," the man agreed. "Your break."

Sam made the break, sinking a few balls right away. As he looked over at his brother and sister, his expression changed. He wasn't looking at them, but at something behind them.

"Sam?" said Allie, sensing something off with him.

"Keep the money," Sam said in a low voice.

"What?" Allie exclaimed as Sam threw the pool stick down on the table.

"Keep the money?" Dean echoed. "What-"

They both turned and saw what…who had caught Sam's attention.

"Ruby," Allie spat, recognizing the dark-haired girl from the hotel in Pontiac sitting at the end of the bar. She knew it was Ruby, though she hadn't seen her again since Pontiac. She followed slowly after her brothers, stopping several feet away. The demon was lucky they were in public, or else she would be dead.

"You got a lot of nerve showing up anywhere near me," Dean said.

"I just have some info and then I'm gone," Ruby replied.

"What is it?" Sam asked, a little too nicely for Allie's tastes.

"I'm hearing a few whispers."

"Oh, great, demon whispers," Dean said with fake enthusiasm. "That's reliable," he continued, losing the enthusiastic tone.

"A girl named Anna Milton escaped from a locked ward yesterday. The demon's seem pretty keen on finding her. Apparently, some real heavy-hitters turned out for the Easter egg hunt."

"Why? Who is she?" Sam asked.

"No idea. But I'm thinking that she's important. Because the orders are to capture her alive. I just figured that whatever the deal is, you might wanna find this girl before the demons do."

"And we should really listen to you?" Allie said through clenched teeth.

"I've helped you three out a lot so far, haven't I?" Ruby countered.

"Yeah, you've been great," Allie said sarcastically.

"Look, maybe we should check it out," Sam interjected.

"This is unbelievable." Allie grabbed the car keys out of the pocket on Dean's flannel shirt and made her way to the door. As she walked toward the Impala on the other side of the parking lot, she could have sworn that someone was watching her. She had that feeling, like the hair on the back of her neck was standing straight up. She looked around her, but she didn't see anything. She was halfway to the car when someone spoke behind her.

"Pretty young thing like you shouldn't be out here all by your lonesome in a place like this so late at night."

Allie turned to see the guy who Sam had been playing pool against. "Well, I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself, thanks."

"Really?" he said moving closer to Allie's 5'3", 120 pound frame. "How so?"

Allie shrugged. "Well, for one thing, I keep three knives on me at all times. And I am a black belt."

The man laughed. "Do you really think you can hold your own against me, baby?"

"Yeah. I mean, I do hunt and kill monsters. I do things that you only see in your nightmares."

"I think you might be a little crazy."

"You think?" Allie asked with a chuckle.

"It's okay if you are though. You're just too pretty to pass up." He reached out toward Allie with rather large arms.

Castiel watched in horror from the shadows. He didn't really know why he had come here. He just wanted to see Allie again. But now he felt that it was good that he had come. The man had to weigh twice as much as Allie. He would easily hurt the girl. The angel suddenly felt very protective over her and was about to intervene. But he didn't have to. Before this man could lay a finger on her, Allie brought the heel of her hand up against his nose before grabbing his arm and twisting it around his back.

"Told you I could take care of myself," she said sweetly, before pushing him down onto the black top.

He stared after her, one hand covering his bloody, broken nose, as she walked to the Impala. Castiel watched too, intrigued by this woman. She was different. The angel realized that she really didn't seem to need the protection he so wanted to give her.

Allie stretched out on the back seat of the Impala, waiting for her brothers. She still felt as though someone was watching her. Looking out the back window, she expected to see the pool player still standing there, but he was gone. Instead, she could have sworn that she saw a lone, slim figure in the shadow, a figure wearing a trench coat, but then she blinked and he was gone. Her imagination must have been getting the best of her again, what with the thoughts of the angel constantly plaguing her.

Sam and Dean emerged from the bar then. Dean did not look happy. Apparently, they were going to listen to the Hell bitch.

"Tell me we are not going after this girl," Allie said as her brothers climbed into the car.

"I wish that I could," Dean replied unhappily.

"We have to check it out," Sam said. "Or are we just going to let the demons get their hands on her?"

"You let a demon get her hands on you," Allie shot at Sam. "We don't even know if Anna Milton exists."

"Look, Ruby gave me the name of the hospital. I'll call and find out." Allie could hear the annoyance with her in his voice. The feeling was apparently mutual between the two of them. She was so fed up with him lately. He had changed. He wasn't the Sam who had run away to go to Stanford, the Sam who had fought so hard to stay away from all of this, who had wanted to be a lawyer. And Allie knew it had something to do with Ruby.

* * *

"Well, Anna Milton is definitely real," Sam stated after hanging up the phone with someone from the hospital.

"That don't mean the case is real," Dean replied. "This hospital is a three day drive."

"We've driven further for less, Dean." He looked over at Dean. "You got something to say, say it."

"Oh, I'm saying it. This sucks."

"You're not pissed we're going after the girl. You're pissed Ruby threw us the tip. Both of you."

"You think," Allie said. She glared at Sam.

"Well, as far as you're concerned, the Hell bitch is practically family," Dean said. "Something major must have happened while I was downstairs, 'cause I come back and you're BFF with a demon."

"I told you, Dean, she helped me go after Lilith."

"Well, thanks for the thumbnail. Real vivid. You wanna fill in a little detail?"

"Sure, Dean, let's trade stories. You first. How was Hell? Don't spare the details."

"Sam, don't go there," Allie practically growled.

They all fell silent. At one point Sam turned to look at Dean as if he was going to say something, but didn't. The silence started to drive Allie crazy, but she didn't want to break it. So instead, she curled up and went to sleep.

* * *

After what felt like an eternity spent mostly in silence, they finally made it to the Connor Beverly Behavioral Medicine Center, from where Anna Milton had escaped. They posed as detectives from the Sherriff's department looking for Anna, Allie being a new rookie shadowing the other two. Anna's doctor met them and led them to Anna's room. "Would you mind answering a few questions?" Sam asked.

"Of course," she replied. "I wanna help however I can."

"The orderly has no recollection of Anna's escape?"

"Apparently she knocked him unconscious. The blow caused some amnesia. He doesn't even remember coming into her room."

"Hell of a right hook to knock out a guy who's got 80 pounds on her," Dean said flashing a grin at Allie. She had told them about the incident in the parking lot outside the bar.

"We think she may have planned this," the doctor stated. "Waited behind the door."

"Right," Sam replied skeptically. "You mentioned earlier that Anna's illness was recent." They followed the doctor out of the room.

"Two months ago, she was happy, well-adjusted. Journalism major, lots of friends, bright future."

"So what happened? She just flipped?" Dean asked.

"Well, that's the tragedy of Schizophrenia. Within weeks, Anna was overtaken by delusions."

"Delusions?" Allie asked.

"Yes. She thought demons were everywhere." She handed a notebook to Sam.

Allie stiffened. There was definitely something going on here if this ordinary girl knew about demons.

"Interesting," Dean said.

Sam opened the notebook. It was filled with drawings.

"It's not uncommon for our patients to believe that monsters are real," the doctor continued.

Allie choked back a sarcastic laugh. If she only knew that her patients were right, she thought to herself. Sam turned to another page in Anna's notebook, and Allie's eyes widened in shock. The left hand simply said "The Raising of the Witnesses," along with the Mark that been branded onto them. On the opposite page was a sketch of one of the Witnesses that resembled Meg. The Winchesters exchanged glances, trying to hide the sudden anxiety they all felt. The next page was a very good likeness of Samhain, and said "Another seal is broken."

"It's Revelations," Dean stated.

"Since when does the Book of Revelations have jack-a-lanterns?" the doctor asked.

"It's a, uh, little-know translation," Dean replied.

"Well, Anna's father is a church deacon. When she became ill, her paranoia took on religious overtones."

"How so?" Allie inquired.

"She was convinced the devil was about to rise up and end the world."

"Oh, well, that's just crazy," Allie said with a tight smile. This was strange. How could this girl know about demons and the coming apocalypse?

"I hope you find her," the doctor said. "It's dangerous for to be out there alone right now."

"Yes, of course," Allie replied. She didn't even realize how dangerous. If Anna really did know about all of this, the demons probably really did want her, which meant that Ruby had been telling the truth. "We'll do everything we can."

"What the Hell is going on here?" Allie asked as they walked back out into the warm autumn afternoon.

"That's a great question," Sam replied. "Let's go talk to Anna's parents."

* * *

The Miltons lived in a yellow, two-story house, with a fenced-in yard and a cute little front porch. A yellow sign with green and red decoration told visitors that it was the Milton residence. In the driveway sat two nice looking cars, nothing flashy. Dean knocked on the decorated glass window in the front door.

"Maybe they're not home," Dean said when there was no answer.

"Both cars are in the driveway," Sam said.

"It's a nice day," Allie said. "They could have gone out for a walk."

Dean reached for the knob and turned it. The door opened easily. That was never a good sign in the Winchesters' line of work. He looked back at his siblings before slowly entering the house.

"Mr. and Mrs. Milton?" he called as he stepped inside warily, looking around the house.

"We're from the sheriff's department," Sam called as he and Allie followed Dean. "Just wanted to ask you a couple questions."

Allie turned to the right into the living room. She saw Mrs. Milton first, laying in a pool of blood on the area rug, her throat slit. Next to her was her husband. "Dammit," Allie cursed. She heard Sam groan in frustration behind her.

Sam moved closer to the bodies. He bent down and rubbed his finger in what looked like a pile of ashes on the floor. "Sulfur," he stated after sniffing it. "Demons beat us here."

"They must really want this girl," Allie said, staring at the Miltons' lifeless bodies.

"And they're not screwing around," Dean continued. "All right, so I'm _Girl, Interrupted _and I know the score of the apocalypse. Just busted out of the nut box, possibly using superpowers, by the way. Where do I go?"

Sam picked up a picture off the mantel. "Hey, you got those sketches from Anna's notebook?" he asked Dean.

"Yeah," Dean replied.

"Let me see them." Dean pulled them out and handed them to Sam as Sam handed Dean the photo. "Check this out." In the photo were Mr. and Mrs. Milton. With them was a red-haired young woman in her twenties. Allie had no doubt that this was Anna. The three of them were standing in front of a church with a familiar looking stained-glass window.

"It's the window from Anna's drawings," Allie said as Sam held one of the drawings up next to the photo.

"She was drawing the window of her church," Dean stated.

"Over and over," Sam continued. "If you were religious, scared, and had demons on your ass, where would you go to feel safe?"

"Bobby's panic room," Allie replied sarcastically. Contrary to popular belief, churches weren't actually safe from demons, like Bobby's panic room. But Anna wouldn't probably know that.


	12. A Rumor of Angels

_Here is chapter 12: A Rumor of Angels. I thought it went nicely with the whole idea that Anna can hear what the angels are saying. This one is quite long, too. Thanks to those who left reviews for the last chapter. I got some really great ones. Not much else to say here but enjoy chapter 12:)

* * *

_The Winchesters found Anna hiding at the church after all. She was cowering behind an old stained-glass window in the room at the top of the tower. The fact that all three of them had their guns raised probably didn't help any.

"Anna?" Sam said as they tucked their guns away. "We're not gonna hurt you. We're here to help. My name is Sam. This is my brother Dean and my sister Allie."

"Sam?" Anna repeated. "Not Sam Winchester?"

The three of them exchanged confused looks. "Uh, yeah," Sam replied.

Anna emerged from behind the glass. "And you're Dean? _The _Dean?"

"Well, yeah," Dean replied sounding as confused as Allie felt. "_The _Dean, I guess." Allie looked at him. He had that look that he always got when he saw a hott girl. Of course.

"It's really you," Anna said in amazement. "Oh my God. The angels talk about you. You were in Hell, but Castiel pulled you out and some of them think you can help save us." She turned to Sam. "And some of them don't like you at all." Then she turned to the third Winchester sibling. "And they talk about you, too, Allie, a couple of them especially. They talk about the three of you all the time. I feel like I know you."

Okay, that was kind of creepy. Allie couldn't imagine why the angels would be talking about her. And she could not figure out why Anna could hear what the angels were saying.

"So you talk to angels?" Dean asked.

"No, no. No way," Anna answered. "They probably don't even know I exist. I just kind of overhear them."

"You overhear them?" Sam repeated.

"Yeah, they talk and sometimes I just…hear them in my head."

"Like right now?" Dean asked.

"Not right this second. But a lot. And I can't shut them out. There are so many of them."

"So they lock you up with a case of the crazies when really you were just tuning in to angel radio?"

"Yes," she replied. She was obviously relieved that someone finally believed her and didn't try to tell her that she was crazy. "Thank you."

"Anna, when did the voices start?" Sam asked. "Do you remember?"

"I can tell you exactly. September 18th."

"Day I got outta Hell," Dean stated.

"First words I heard, clear as a bell: 'Dean Winchester is saved.'"

"Wow," Allie said.

"What do you think?" Dean asked.

"This is above my paygrade, man," Sam replied.

Allie just shook her head and shrugged.

"Well at least now we know why the demons want you so bad," Dean said. "They get a hold of you and they can hear everything the other side is cooking. You're 1-900-ANGEL."

Anna smiled at Dean. He was such a charmer. Girls always fell for it. "Hey, do you know-are my parents okay? I-I didn't go home. I was afraid."

Allie felt a lump rise in her throat. How were they going to tell this poor girl who was already terrified that demons had killed her parents to get to her? It was so unfair. To Allie, this was even worse than what had happened to Wes.

Before any of them could give her an answer, however, the door to the room burst open and in walked Ruby. Allie gritted her teeth. Why did Ruby have to get involved? The Winchesters could handle this on their own, sans demonic assistance.

"You got the girl?" Ruby asked hastily. "Good, let's go."

Anna cried out and stumbled backwards at the sight of the demon. "Her face!"

"It's okay, it's okay," said Sam calmly to Anna. "She's here to help."

"Ha!" Allie said.

"Don't be so sure," Dean said.

"We have to hurry," Ruby stated.

"Why?" Dean demanded.

"Because a demon's coming big time, and we can fight later, Dean."

"Well, that's pretty convenient. Showing up right when we find the girl with some big wig on your tail?"

"I didn't bring him here, you did."

"What?"

"He followed you from the girl's house. We gotta go now!"

Allie found it hard to believe her. Sure, she'd been right about Anna…but who was to say that she hadn't tricked them into finding the girl for her so that she could hand deliver her to the demons and get the bounty? Allie could feel it deep down in her gut that Ruby wasn't being completely honest about something. She was a freaking demon, for crying out loud.

"Dean," Sam said, pointing to a statue of the Virgin Mary in the corner. Red tears were staining its cheeks as they spilled from her closed eyes. Allie's memory flashed to Pamela's face after her eyes had been burned out of her head, blood streaking her cheeks, and she shuddered. It was sometimes easy for her to forget that Castiel had done that.

"It's too late," Ruby stated quietly. "He's here."

"Come with me," Sam said to Anna, and he led her to a closet in the back corner of the room.

Allie and Dean watched as blood continued spilling from the closed eyes of the statue. Sam rejoined them and pulled out his flask of holy water.

"No, Sam," Ruby protested. "You've gotta pull him right away."

"Like Hell he does!" Allie exclaimed. "He's not using his powers."

"Now's not the time to belly ache about Sam going dark side," Ruby shot at her. "He does his thing, he exorcises that demon, or we die."

Allie looked to Dean waiting for him to back her up, but he didn't. She clenched her fists, rage bubbling in the pit of her stomach, as Sam put the flask back into his breast pocket. They all turned to the door. It burst open, and in walked an older man in his late fifties. As he came closer, Sam raised his hand, palm out. The demon's eyes turned completely white, reminding Allie of Lilith, and he rubbed his throat. He coughed lightly as his eyes returned to the normal color of his meat suit. Sam's powers wouldn't work; this demon was too damn strong. In short, they were screwed.

"That tickles," the demon joked. "You don't have the juice to take me on, Sam." With a wave of his hand, Sam was dragged forward as if by an invisible rope, straight through the railing and down the stairs.

"Sam!" Allie cried. Before she could even think of moving, the demon gave another flick of his wrist, and Allie flew backwards, hitting the wall. She blacked out for a couple of seconds, but when she came to, Ruby was gone, and the new demon had Dean pinned against the wall.

"We were so close," the demon said to Dean between punches. "In Hell."

"Alistair," Dean stated in recognition.

The demon chuckled and landed another punch to Dean's face.

Allie struggled to her feet as Sam reappeared and stabbed the demon in the chest with Ruby's knife.

"You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that, son," the demon, Alistair, said. He punched Sam hard in the face, and then pulled the knife from his own chest, reminding Allie of Castiel that night in the barn.

Allie made it over to her brothers. Alistair was between them and the door. They knew they weren't getting out that way. So instead, they turned toward the only other way out: the big window on the opposite side of the room. Great, Allie thought to herself, as they made a running start. They crashed through the glass and fell quickly through the air, toward the hard unyielding Earth.

* * *

Allie was sore from head to toe. Between being thrown into a wall and then jumping out of a window, she was covered with bumps and bruises, but she was sure that nothing was broken. She had a pretty good cut on her right side and was trying to stop the bleeding. She'd had worse in the past. And her brothers had worse right now. Sam had a large gash on his left bicep, which he was stitching on his own. Dean's left shoulder was dislocated and he cradled his arm gingerly to his side.

"You almost done?" Dean asked breathlessly after spitting a mouthful of blood into the sink.

Sam moaned in pain. "Going as fast as I can," he replied.

"Good, 'cause you know I got a dislocated shoulder over here."

"Yeah. I'll pop it back in when I'm finished."

"Can we not talk?" Allie asked, leaning back against the couch, her shirt pulled up, holding a towel to her wound. She pulled it away. The bleeding had mostly stopped. It wasn't nearly as deep as Sam's, so she didn't really need to stitch it shut. She used a gauze pad to clean it up a little better then dabbed it with antibiotic ointment before taping a bandage over it. Her head was pounding. It was probably just a minor concussion, but it still hurt.

Dean took a large swig out of a bottle of alcohol. Sam finished his stitches. "Give me that," he said gesturing to the bottle in Dean's hand. He dumped some of the contents onto the wound to cleanse it.

"So you lost the magic knife, huh?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, saving your ass," Sam replied. "Who the Hell was that demon?" Great question, Allie thought. He and Dean had obviously met before.

"No one good. We gotta find Anna."

"Ruby's got her. I'm sure she's okay."

Allie could think of a million and one choice things to say to that, but every part of her body hurt. She didn't even want to move enough muscles to speak.

"All right," Sam continued, pushing himself off the bed. "Come on." He moved around to Dean's left side, placing a hand on either side of Dean's affected shoulder. "On three. One." With a loud cracking sound, he popped Dean's shoulder back. Dean yelled in pain, making Allie jump.

Dean raised his arm over his head as he walked back to the sink. "Ah," he groaned. "You sure about Ruby? I think it's just as likely she used us to find radio girl and brought that demon in to kill us."

"No, she took Anna to keep her safe," Sam stated confidently.

"Yeah, sure," Allie replied. "You better be right, Sam. If anything happens to Anna, it's on you."

"Why hasn't she called to tell us where she is?" Dean asked as he held an ice pack to his injured shoulder.

"Because that demon is probably watching us right now. Waiting to follow us right back to Anna. That's probably why he let us go."

Dean laughed sarcastically. "You call this letting us go?"

"Yeah, I do. Look, killing us would have been no problem for that thing. That's why for now, we just gotta lay low and wait for Ruby to contact us."

"Yeah, and how's she gonna do that?" Dean turned to face Sam. "Why do you trust her so much?"

"I told you."

"You've gotta do better than that." He paused before continuing. "I'm not trying to pick a fight here. I really wanna understand. But I need to know more. I deserve to know more. Allie really deserves to know more, since you left her behind to hunt demons with Ruby."

"'Cause," Sam replied evenly. "She saved my life."

Allie listened quietly as Sam told them about how he had started drinking heavily when he realized that he couldn't get any demons to make a deal to trade Dean for him. And then one night, Ruby showed up at his hotel room with another demon. She was supposed to kill Sam for Lilith, to make up for helping the Winchesters, but instead killed the other demon. He'd sent her away, told her to let her meat suit go. That was when she had found the dark-haired girl she was riding now, a Jane Doe just taken off life support and dead. She'd tracked him down again and told him that she could help him get Lilith…as long as he started using his powers. It had take him awhile, but he finally got the hang of using them.

What came next made bile rise in Allie's throat. He had slept with her. And he'd gone into way too much detail about how it had happened. Allie felt the need to scratch her own eyes out, but she was sure that she would still see the image of her brother screwing the Hell bitch.

"Sam?" Dean said interrupting Sam's story.

"Yeah?" Sam answered.

"Too much information," Dean said disgustedly.

"Hey, I told you I was coming clean."

"Yeah, but now I feel dirty."

"I feel sick," Allie said. Sam gave her a dirty look.

"Okay," Dean said. "Well, uh, brain-stabbing imagery aside, so far all you've told us about is a manipulative bitch who screwed you, played mind games with you, and did everything in the book to get you to go bad."

"Yeah, well there's more to the story."

"Oh, great," Allie groaned. "We get to hear more about Sam having hot, steamy sex with a demon."

"Allie," Dean said trying to calm her down. "Skip the nudity, please."

Sam continued recounting his story. "Pretty soon after..._that_, uh, I put together some omens."

"Saying what?" Dean asked.

"Lilith was in town, and I wanted to strike her first." He went on, about how Ruby had begged him not to go after Lilith yet because she knew he wasn't ready. He didn't listen and went anyway, but it had been a trap. A couple of Lilith's stunt demons had kidnapped a little girl to trick Sam into thinking Lilith was in town. If Ruby hadn't showed up when she did, Sam would have been killed, the little girl too, most likely. She had saved his life. Of course it wasn't the first time, so Allie wasn't quite sure why this time it made such a big impact on her brother. And Allie couldn't bring herself to feel grateful. She just couldn't shake the feeling that Ruby had other reasons for helping Sam. "Ruby came back for me," Sam said. "Whatever you have to say, she saved me. More than that, she got through to me. What she said to me, it's what you would have said. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here."

Allie let out a long slow breath to keep from saying what was on her mind. None of this proved anything. Just because she'd said the words Dean would have had he been around, that didn't make her trustworthy. It just meant that she was a manipulative little slut who knew exactly how to get to Sam and make him do what she wanted.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

"Housekeeping," came a woman's voice. Allie was annoyed. She knew the "do not disturb" sign was out; she had hung it herself when they got to the hotel. But apparently, this woman didn't know how to read.

"Not now," Dean replied.

"Sir, I've got clean towels."

Dean got up and opened the door. "Couldn't you just leave 'em at the door?" he asked, glaring at the woman.

Without answering, the very round African American maid shoved a stack of towels at Dean and moved into the room. She pulled the curtain closed and moved over to stand in front of Sam.

"I'm at this address," she told him as she handed him a piece of paper. Allie raised her eyebrows and looked at Dean.

"I'm sorry, what?" Sam asked with a bemused expression.

"Go now," she instructed. "Go through the bathroom window. Don't stop, don't take your car. Don't pass go. There are demons in the hallway and in the parking lot."

Allie gritted her teeth as she realized what was going on. But she didn't say anything. They needed to get to Anna fast before any _other _demons did.

"Ruby?" Sam exclaimed.

"Okay, yeah. So I'm possessing this maid for a hot minute. So sue me."

"What about-"

"Coma girl? Slowly rotting on the floor back at the cabin with Anna, so I gotta go. See you when you get there. Go!" She turned and walked back out of the room.

"Have I mentioned how much this sucks?" Allie said as she got to her feet.

* * *

"Glad you could make it," Ruby said as she opened the door for the Winchesters, letting them into the cabin.

Allie was relieved to see Anna sitting on the couch, completely unharmed.

"Yeah, thanks," Sam replied. "Anna, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Anna replied. "Ruby's not like other demons. She saved my life." She smiled at Ruby.

Allie was really getting tired of hearing that Ruby was saving everyone's lives.

"Yeah, I hear she does that," Dean said. He turned to the demon. "I guess I, uh, ya know."

"What?" Ruby asked crossing her arms.

"I guess I owe ya...for Sam. And I just wanted...ya know."

"Don't strain yourself."

"Okay then. Is the moment over? Good 'cause that was awkward."

Allie let out a short sarcastic laugh. Ruby looked at her like she was expecting a thank you from Allie as well. The bitch could keep dreaming.

"Hey, Sam?" Anna said. "Do you think it'd be safe to make a quick call? Just to tell my parents I'm okay? They must be freaked."

"Anna," Allie said sadly.

"What?"

Sam sat down next to her on the couch. "Anna...your parents..."

"What about them?" Allie could tell by the change in her voice that Anna could sense what was coming next deep down, but she didn't want to admit it.

"I'm sorry."

"No, they're not-"

"Anna, I'm sorry."

She sobbed and doubled over. Allie took her other side and pulled Anna into her chest to comfort her.

"Why is this happening to me?" Anna cried. She put her head in her hands. Then suddenly she gasped, sitting up straight again. "They're coming."

The lights started flickering, and they all jumped into action.

"Back room," Dean said to Sam.

Sam led Anna into the other room. Ruby locked one of the doors, though Allie wasn't sure why. A lock wasn't going to stop a demon from getting inside the cabin. Dean grabbed the sawed-offs from his duffel bag, handing one to Sam and to Allie, before going over to lock the other door. Ruby started digging through the duffle bag.

"Where's the knife?" she asked.

"Uh, about that," Dean replied sheepishly.

"You're kidding?" Ruby exclaimed.

"Don't look at me."

"Thanks a lot," Sam said in annoyance.

"Great," said Ruby. "Just peachy. Impeccable timing, guys, really."

"I really don't think now is the time to be fighting over the knife," Allie stated as the door started to rattle.

The three Winchesters raised their guns as the door burst open, breaking the lock. Allie's heart thudded wildly as she waited for Alistair to walk into the room. A heavy gust of wind blew through the door, followed by a tall figure.


	13. Fallen Angel

_Here is chapter 13: Fallen Angel. The title could come from many sources, but I took it from the Poison song of the same name. I had originally intended to use it later to refer to Cas, but I thought it went nicely for this chapter when we learn who Anna really is. Cas is starting to show more emotions in this chapter as well. And since this is chapter 13, the next chapter is giving us a HUGE moment with Allie and Cas, the first of many more to come. I am so excited! I can't wait for everyone to read it...but I want to know what you all think, so let me see some reviews for this chapter. The next one will be up within the week hopefully, but I have a paper due this week, so it may not go up til the weekend. Anyway, enjoy this one for now:)

* * *

_Castiel?" Allie said in surprise as she took in the angel's appearance. She was relieved to see him as he glanced in her direction, thinking he was there to help them. But then Uriel followed him through the door, and Allie had a sinking feeling that they were not going to be very helpful.

"Please tell me you're here to help," Dean said. "We've been having demon issues all day."

"I can see that," Uriel replied quietly, staring at Ruby. "You want to explain why you have that stain in the room?"

"We're here for Anna," Castiel said before anyone could explain Ruby's presence.

"Here for her, like 'here for her'?" Dean asked.

"Stop talking," Uriel demanded. "Give her to us."

"Are you gonna help her?" Sam questioned.

"No," Castiel replied.

"Then what are you gonna do?" Allie asked, her voice cracking.

"She has to die," Castiel stated. He couldn't look at Allie as he said it. He could feel her disappointment in him for this.

"You want Anna? Why?" Sam questioned.

"Out of the way," Uriel responded, taking a step closer to the Winchesters.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay," Dean interrupted. "Okay, I know she's wire tapping your angel chats or whatever. But it's no reason to gank her."

"Don't worry," Uriel joked darkly. "I'll kill her gentle."

"You're some heartless sons of bitches, you know that?"

"As a matter of fact, we are," Castiel replied. If he said it aloud, maybe it would be true. He felt lately that he wasn't entirely heartless. "And?"

"And Anna's an innocent girl," Sam stated.

"She is far from innocent." Cas shook his head.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Allie demanded angrily.

"It means she's worse than this abomination you've been screwing," Uriel spat at Sam. "Now give us the girl."

Cas looked over at Allie. She stared at him, a hurt look on her face. He didn't like that look because it was his doing. He cast his eyes sadly and regretfully to the floor.

"Sorry, get yourself another one," Dean said. "Try JDate."

"Who's gonna stop us?" Uriel sneered. "You three?" He moved closer. "Or this demon whore?" He grabbed Ruby and threw her against the window. Picking her up, he pinned her against the wall and held a hand to her forehead.

Dean started to swing at Uriel's back as Castiel moved toward Sam and Allie. Allie couldn't breathe as she looked into the angel's cold, blue eyes. Sam tried to stand protectively in front of his sister.

"Cas, stop," he pleaded with the angel. "Please."

The angel pressed two fingers to Sam's forehead. Sam's tall fame fell to the ground, unconscious. Cas continued to follow Allie as she moved backwards, keeping herself between the angel and the door to the other room where Anna was hidden.

"Cas," she breathed. "Please don't do this." She felt tears well up in her eyes. She had thought he was different from Uriel, but now she wasn't so sure. He seemed to falter as Allie backed into the door, but then his hand came up toward her forehead. She closed her eyes, waiting for his touch, but instead a blinding flash of white light pierced through her eyelids. When she opened her eyes again, both Castiel and Uriel were gone.

"Allie?" Dean said as he spit a mouthful of blood onto the floor. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied. She crossed the floor to help him up. "Are _you _okay?"

"Yeah, no thanks to Junkless."

"Speaking of, what the Hell happened to them?"

"I don't know." He walked over to Ruby and helped her to her feet as Sam stirred and grunted.

"Anna?" Dean called as he moved through the door to the other room, followed closely by Allie. "Anna."

She was bending over an old, banged-up vanity. A sigil Allie didn't recognize had been drawn in blood on the cracked glass of the mirror. Anna's hands were covered in blood. Dean helped ease her back into the chair. Her right wrist was slit, still dripping blood.

"Are the-are they gone?" Anna asked in a weak voice.

"Did you kill them?" Dean asked as he pulled his bandana out of his pocket and wrapped it around Anna's wrist.

"No," Anna replied. "I sent them away. Far away."

"You wanna tell me how?" He and Allie stared at the bloody sigil on the mirror.

"That just popped into my head. I don't know how I did it. I just did it."

* * *

Sam pulled the door to the back room closed, hiding Ruby and Anna from site as Ruby cleaned the blood from Anna's arm.

"What do you think?" Dean asked.

"I think Anna just got a lot more interesting," Sam replied.

"Yeah, I agree. And what did they mean by 'she's not innocent'?"

"It seems like they want her bad, and not just because of the angel radio thing. I mean that blood spell? That's some serious crap man."

"Something's going on with her."

"Gee, ya think?" Allie said sarcastically. Her anger was bubbling beneath the surface after the most recent encounter with the angels. Castiel had come after her to get to Anna. She knew that he was only going to knock her out for a bit, but still, the thought that he would have done that just so that they could kill Anna really troubled her. She felt like an idiot for ever believing that Castiel was different from his brother.

Dean ignored her. "See what you can find out," he told Sam.

"What are you gonna do?" Sam asked.

"Anna may have sent the angels to the outfield, but sooner or later, they're gonna be back. We gotta get ourselves safe now."

"And how do we do that?" Allie inquired. "So far these dicks have been able to find us no matter where we go."

"I'll figure something out," Dean answered. "But until I do, we're going to Bobby's. At least there, we'll be protected from the demons."

* * *

"Iron walls, drenched in salt," Dean informed Anna as they gathered in Bobby's panic room, minus Sam. "Demons can't even touch the joint."

"Which I find racist, by the way," Ruby complained. She stood just outside the door, arms crossed over her chest.

"B-O-O-H-O-O," Allie mumbled under her breath, as Dean said, "Write to your Congressman."

Ruby sighed and held something up. "Here," she said, and threw three small black bags at Dean.

"Hex bags?" Dean asked.

"Extra crunchy. Hide us from angels, demons, all comers."

"Thanks, Ruby," Dean said easily. Allie and Ruby both stared at him in surprise as he handed one of the bags to Anna. "Don't lose this," he told her before throwing one to Allie as well.

Allie easily caught the bag then stared at it warily, turning it over in her hand. She still did not trust Ruby. For all they knew, she could be using the bags to work a spell against them, but it was all they had so far to keep Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum from finding them. She sighed and tucked it into the pocket of her leather jacket.

"So Anna, what's playing on angel radio? Anything useful?" Dean asked.

"It's quiet," Anna replied. "Dead silence."

"Good. That's not troubling at all."

"What's next, Dean?" Allie asked quietly.

"I don't know. I guess we'll wait to see what Sam dug up."

"We're in trouble, huh?" Anna said. "You guys are scared."

Dean and Allie both looked at Ruby. The demon looked just as anxious as they felt.

"Nah," Dean lied as he turned back to Anna with a smile.

"Hey, Dean!" Sam's voice called from upstairs.

"Just stay here, okay?" Dean said to Anna as he and Allie stepped out of the panic room. "Keep an eye on her," he added to Ruby.

"How's Anna?" Sam asked when Dean and Allie met him at the top of the stairs.

"As good as she can be right now," Allie replied.

"How's the car?" Dean asked. Of course that was the first thing out of his mouth.

"I got her, she's fine," Sam assured him as they moved into the kitchen. "Where's Bobby?"

"Uh, the Dominican. Said we break anything, we buy it."

"Is he working a job?"

"God, I hope so. Otherwise, he's at Hedonism in a banana hammock and a trucker cap."

"Thanks for the scarring mental image," Allie said, cringing.

"What'd you find on Anna?" Dean asked Sam.

"Uh, not much," Sam replied. "Her parents were, uh, Rich and Amy Milton." He laid out the information he had found on Anna. "A church deacon and a housewife."

"Riveting," Dean said sarcastically.

"Yeah, uh, but there is something here in the report. Turns out this latest psych episode wasn't her first: When she was two-and-a-half, she'd get hysterical anytime her dad got close. She was convinced that he wasn't her real daddy."

"Who was? The plumber? Hmm? Little snaking the pipes?"

Allie smacked him as Sam said, "Dude, you're confusing reality with porn again." The smile on Dean's face disappeared and Sam continued. "Look, Anna didn't say, she just kept repeating that this real father of hers was mad. Very mad. Like wanted-to-kill-her mad."

"Kind of heavy for a two year old."

"Well, she saw a kid shrink, got better, and grew up normal."

"Until now. So what's she hiding?"

Allie opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Anna's angry voice came from the doorway.

"Why don't you just ask me to my face?" she demanded.

"Nice job watching her," Dean said to Ruby, who was standing close behind Anna.

"I'm watching her," Ruby retorted.

"No, you're right, Anna," Sam said. "Is there anything you wanna tell us?"

"About what?"

"The angels said you were guilty of something. Why would they say that?"

"You tell me. Tell me why my life has been leveled! Why my parents are dead! I don't know, I swear. I would give anything to know."

"Okay then, let's find out."

"How?"

Sam turned toward Dean and Allie. Allie could tell what he was thinking before he even said anything, and she didn't like it.

"We're not dragging her back into this," Allie said. "Not after the last time."

"What other choice do we have if we want to figure this out, Al," Sam responded.

* * *

Allie paced around the panic room until she heard footsteps on the stairs.

"We're here," Dean called.

"Pamela, hey," Sam said, as he and Allie went to greet her.

"Sam," Pamela said. "Sam?" A dark pair of sunglasses covered her missing eyes.

"Yeah. It's me, Sam."

"Sam? Sam, is that you?"

"I'm right here."

She touched Sam's cheek. "You know how I can tell?" She reached around and smacked Sam's butt. "That perky little ass of yours. Bounce a nickel off that thing." She laughed. "Of course, I know it's you, Grumpy. Same way I know Allie's right next to me, and that's a demon over there, and that poor girl is Anna. And that you've been eyeing my rack."

Allie laughed as Sam stammered in response. She was glad to see that Pamela hadn't lost her sense of humor. Though it was a little awkward that the psychic was so obsessed with Sam's butt.

"Don't sweat it, kiddo," Pamela laughed. "I still got more senses than most. She turned and put a hand on Allie's shoulder. "Hey, Allie."

"Hey, Pamela," Allie replied.

Pamela moved toward Anna. "Hey, Anna. How are you? I'm Pamela."

"Hi," Anna replied with a smile as Pamela took both of Anna's hands in hers.

"Dean told me what's been going on. I'm excited to help."

"That's nice of you."

"Well, not really. Any chance I can dick over an angel, I'm taking it."

"Why?"

"They stole something from me." Pamela reached up and pulled her sunglasses off. Anna looked surprised and Allie wondered what she saw. "Demony, I know. But they're just plastic. Good for business. Makes me look extra-psychic, don't you think?" Anna smiled as Pamela laughed. "Now, how about you tell me what your deal is. Hmm?" She put her glasses back on, put her arm around Anna, and led the other woman into the panic room. "Don't worry."

Pamela instructed Anna to lay down on the cot and then sat down on the chair in front of her. Dean sat down on one of the desks, Sam took a cabinet by the door, Allie took the other desk, and Ruby watched from just outside the door.

"I'm going to count from five to zero," Pamela said. "When we're at zero, you'll be in a deep state of hypnosis. As I count, just go deeper and deeper, okay? Five, four, three, two, one. Deep sleep." She touched Anna's head. "Deep sleep. Every muscle, calm and relaxed. Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you," Anna said quietly.

"Now, Anna, tell me: how can you hear the angels? How did you work that spell?"

"I don't know. I just did."

"Your father, what's his name?"

"Rich Milton."

"All right. But I want you to look further back, when you were very young. Just a couple of months old."

"I don't wanna."

"It'll be okay, Anna. Just one look, that's all we need."

Allie couldn't help thinking that one look wasn't such a good idea. The last time Pamela wanted just one look, her eyes were burnt out of her skull.

"No," Anna protested, her head was suddenly turning to the side.

"What's you dad's name? Your real dad. Why is he angry at you?"

"No. No." Anna started gasping and twitching on the cot. "No! No!" Her voice was getting louder as she began thrashing around. "No!"

"Calm down," Anna screamed loudly.

"No, he's gonna kill me!" Anna screamed loudly.

"Anna, you're safe."

"No!" As Anna screamed, she suddenly sat up, her eyes still close, and the door slammed shut. The light bulbs above them started to burst, showering them with sparks, reminding Allie of the night in the barn when they first met Castiel.

"Calm down," Pamela repeated.

"He's gonna kill me!"

"It's all right, Anna."

"What's happening?" Allie asked over Anna's screams.

Dean stood and moved towards Anna, trying to help her.

"Dean, don't!" Pamela warned as he reached for Anna's arm. Anna swung her arm, connecting hard with Dean's face, knocking him on his backside.

Anna continued to scream in terror. Pamela stood up and pushed Anna back down onto the bed. "Wake in one, two, three, four, five," Pamela said. "Anna? Anna? You all right?"

Anna opened her eyes as Pamela stroked her hair soothingly. She looked at Pamela and stood up. "Thank you, Pamela," she said calmly, as if her fit just seconds earlier had not happened. "That helped a lot. I remember now."

The three Winchesters, now huddled together, were confused. "Remember what?" Sam asked.

"Who I am."

"I'll bite," Dean said. "Who are you?"

"I'm an angel," Anna stated.

"Great," Allie said.


	14. Show Me Your Colors

_Chapter 14...This is one of my favorite chapters. We find out what happened to Dean in Hell and, for all of you have been asking for it...we have a huge moment with Allie and our favorite angel. Well, two moments really. I think everyone will really enjoy this one too. It is quite long, so bear with me. I didn't really know where to split it, so I just left it as one full chapter. The title comes from a song by S Club that I really liked as a kid. The lyrics kind of came back to me as I was writing this, especially towards the end. So anyway enjoy and please let me know what you think!

* * *

_

They all moved up to the library. Allie's head was starting to hurt. She didn't want to deal with anymore angel drama. Castiel had caused her enough disappointment.

"Don't be afraid," Anna said. "I'm not like the others."

"I don't find that very reassuring," Ruby said leaning against the doorframe into the kitchen.

"Neither do I," Pamela seconded.

"So," Anna said, changing the subject. "Castiel, Uriel, they're the ones that came for me?"

"You know them?" Sam asked.

"We were kind of in the same foxhole."

"So, what were they, like your bosses or something?" Dean asked.

"Try the other way around."

"Look at you."

"But now they wanna kill you?" Pamela questioned.

"Orders are orders."

"Yeah, we've gotten that one before," Allie said. She was lying on the couch below the window, her eyes closed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Well, I'm sure I have a death sentence on my head."

"Why?" Pamela asked.

"I disobeyed, which for us is about the worst thing you can do. I fell."

"Meaning?" Dean inquired.

"She fell to Earth," Pamela stated. "Became human."

"Wait a minute, I don't understand," Sam said. "So angels can just become human?"

"Kinda hurts. Try cutting out your kidney with a butter knife. That kinda hurt. I ripped out my grace."

"Come again?" Dean said.

"My grace. It's energy. Hacked it out and fell. My mother, Amy, couldn't get pregnant. Always called me her little miracle. She had no idea how right she was."

"So you just forgot you were God's little Power Ranger?" Dean asked.

"The older I got, the longer I was human, yeah."

"I don't think you all appreciate how screwed we are," Ruby spoke up.

"Ruby's right," Anna agreed. "Heaven wants me dead."

"And Hell just wants her," Ruby continued. "A flesh and blood angel that you can question, torture, that bleeds. Sister, you're the Stanly Cup. And sooner or later, Heaven or Hell, they're gonna find you."

"I know," Anna replied. "And that's why I'm gonna get it back."

"What?" Sam asked.

"My grace."

"You can do that?" Dean wondered.

"If I can find it."

"So what, you're just gonna take some divine bong hit, and shazam, you're Roma Downey?"

"Something like that."

"All right. I like this plan. So where's this grace of yours?"

"Lost track. I was falling about 10,000 miles per hour at the time."

"Wait, you mean falling, like literally?" Sam asked.

"Yes."

"Like the way a human eye can see? Like a comet, maybe, or a meteor?"

"Why do you ask?"

* * *

Sam set to work finding some information that might help them track down Anna's grace. Dean left to take Pamela home. She didn't want to stay if there was an angle present, not that she necessarily had anything against Anna. Anna had wandered out into the salvage yard. Ruby and Allie remained in the library with Sam.

"Here, in March '85, a meteorite vanished in the night sky over Northwestern Ohio. It was sighted nine months before Anna was born. And she was born in that part of Ohio."

"Pretty buff for a nerd," Ruby said.

Allie glared at the demon. This whole working with a demon thing was getting really old. Allie especially hated it now that she knew what had really happened between Sam and Ruby.

"Look," Sam continued. "I think it was Anna." He pulled out another book. "And here, same time, another meteor over Kentucky."

"And that's her grace?" Ruby asked.

"Might be."

"All right just narrows it down to an entire state."

"Look it's a start."

"I need a drink," Allie said with a groan. She just needed to get away from the demon. So she excused herself and pulled a beer out of the fridge before going out onto the porch. Allie sighed as she sat down on the front steps. Her anger at Castiel had faded, but her disappointment lingered. She thought she had seen something in him, especially that day at the park after she and her brothers had stopped Samhain...but she now realized how wrong she had been. As much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to understand Sam's trust in Ruby. She had trusted Castiel and now they were running from him. She just wondered how long it would be before Sam finally realized Ruby couldn't be trusted either.

"Hey," Sam said coming up behind her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great," she said sarcastically.

"Yeah, sounds like it," he joked.

"Sorry." She laughed lightly. "It's all this angels-and-demons stuff is getting frustrating. Every time I think we can trust the angels-well, Cas at least-they do something like this. Why should Anna be condemned for wanting to have a mind of her own? She kind of reminds me of you, leaving her family to have a life of her own."

"Allie-"

"Sam, as hurt as I was when you left us to go to Stanford, I was happy for you. I was proud of you. You happy there, especially with Jess. I could hear it in your voice every time I talked to you. That was all I ever wanted for you. I just wish the things that happened since then hadn't and you were some big shot lawyer to the stars in LA and married to Jess."

"Thanks, Al."

In the distance, they could hear the familiar roar of the Impala's engine.

"I'm gonna go find them," Sam said.

"I'll wait right here," Allie said as cheerfully as she could.

* * *

"Union, Kentucky," Sam said pointing to s small spot on the map laid out on the desk. "Found some accounts of a local miracle." Scattered over the desk with map were printouts of old newspaper articles about a "miracle tree." Allie picked one up and skimmed through it while Sam continued. "In '85, there was an empty field outside of town. Six months later, there was a full-grown oak. They say it looks a century old, at least."

"Anna, what do you think?" Dean asked.

"The grace," Anna said. "Where it hit, it could have done something like that. Easy."

"So grace ground zero. It-it's not destruction. It's-"

"Pure creation," Anna finished for him.

"Well, I guess this means we're going to Kentucky," Allie said. From Bobby's house, just outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it would take a good fourteen hours to get to Union, Kentucky. With Dean driving, they could probably knock off two or three hours, but that still meant at least ten to eleven hours in the car. Normally, that wouldn't really bother Allie; she would just spread out on the backseat and sleep through most of it. But this time it would be a full house with both Ruby and Anna in tow. She thought about driving herself; her poor old Mustang sat not far from the house in the salvage yard, looking lonely and neglected, but she didn't drive quite as fast as Dean. And she was too tired to trust herself driving that long. But thankfully the Impala's back seat was roomy enough for the three woman to fit comfortably.

At one point, Dean joked about the fact that an angel and a demon were riding in the backseat. "It's like a setup to a bad joke. Or a penthouse forum letter."

"Dude, reality. Porn," Sam said.

"You call this reality?"

* * *

By the time they reached Union, the sun was high and bright. Allie couldn't believe the sight before them in the previously vacant field. The sunlight hit the leaves of the oak tree just right, so that they seemed to glow. It was impossible that this tree had only been there for twenty-four years.

"It's beautiful," Dean said, though Allie didn't think "beautiful" did the tree justice. It was breathtaking.

"This is where the grace touched down," Anna said confidently. "I can feel it."

"You ready to do this?" Dean asked her.

"Not really."

Allie didn't blame her. She wouldn't want to go back to a life where all there was were obedience and orders. No emotion, no love or sadness. Though sometimes, maybe that would be better, if you couldn't feel all the painful emotions.

They moved across the field closer to the tree. Allie lingered behind the rest of their party. Anna had said that ripping out her grace had been painful. Pushing it back in probably couldn't be any better.

"Anna, what exactly are we looking for?" Sam asked.

Anna raised her hand to touch the tree. "It doesn't matter. It's not here," she replied. "Not anymore. Someone took it."

"Well, there goes that idea out the window," Allie said.

"We need to find somewhere to lay low for the night," Dean said as they walked back to the car.

"Hotel's probably not a good idea," Sam said. "There's only one in town. We'd be too easy to find."

"I noticed an old barn a few miles back," Allie said. "How about there?"

"Better than nothing," Dean replied.

* * *

"We still got the hex bags," Dean said pacing the floor of the barn. "I say we head back to the panic room."

"What, forever?" Ruby asked.

"I'm just thinking out loud."

"Oh, you call that thinking?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Sam interrupted. "Stop it."

"Anna's grace is gone, you understand?" Ruby asked Dean. "She can't angel up and protect us. We can't fight Heaven _and _Hell. One side, maybe, but not both. Not at once."

"She's right, Dean," Allie admitted reluctantly.

"Um, guys," Anna said. "The angels are talking again."

"About what?" Allie asked.

"It's weird, like a recording. A loop. It says: 'Dean Winchester gives us Anna by midnight or..."

"Or what?" Dean asked.

"Or we hurl him back to damnation."

Allie looked at Dean. They needed to figure something out. She was not about to let the angels send Dean back to Hell. She was not going to lose her brother again.

"Anna," Sam said. "Do you know of any weapon that can works on angels?"

"To what? Kill them? Nothing we could get to. Not right now."

"Okay, wait," Dean said. "I say we call Bobby, get him back from Hedonism-"

"Dean, what's he gonna tell us that we don't already know?" Sam asked.

"I don't know! But we gotta think of something."

"Dean, we'll think of something," Allie stated. "You aren't going back to Hell and none of these dicks are getting their hands on Anna."

* * *

Castiel was becoming frustrated. He couldn't find the Winchesters...but that wasn't the worst part. He couldn't get the look on Allie's face out of his head.

The way she had looked at him when they told the Winchesters why they had come for Anna, the disappointment evident in her eyes, burned him. He had never cared for humans the way he did for the Winchesters, especially Allie. He felt like he was being pulled toward her. To know that he was the cause of her disappointment made him feel disappointed in himself.

He had to find her, to talk to her, to apologize. She probably wouldn't understand, but he needed to explain himself anyway.

"I know where the Winchesters are," Uriel said, suddenly appearing next to Castiel.

"How?" Castiel asked.

"Let's just say that I knew where to apply the right pressure when it comes to Dean."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Uriel chuckled. "All it took was to threaten his brother and sister, and he broke like a twig."

"We have orders not to touch Sam," Cas said heatedly.

"But there are no orders when it comes to the girl."

"Maybe not, but you will not touch her, either. Those are my orders."

"I believe you are getting too close to the Winchesters, Castiel."

"Allie has done nothing wrong. There is no reason to harm her."

"She is standing in our way."

"We do not need to touch the Winchesters to get to Anna. _Any _of the Winchesters." He wasn't going to back down on this one. There was no reason to punish the Winchesters. They were doing what they did best, protecting those who they thought to be innocent. But Uriel was right, he was getting close too close to the Winchesters. If he got any closer, he would be in trouble. If only he knew how to pull himself back, back from them, back from _her, _from the ledge on which he was precariously standing. Sooner or later, he would fall if he didn't learn to control himself. "Let's take care of Anna," he said.

* * *

The sun had started to rise again, creeping into the barn through the wooden planks forming the walls. Ruby had been missing for hours, and none of them even knew when she had left. Dean was already drinking, and Sam was pacing the dusty floor. They had come up with a plan, but Allie wasn't sure that it would work, now that Ruby had gone AWOL.

"I don't know, man," Sam said nervously. "Where's Ruby?"

"Hey, she's your Hell buddy," Dean said.

"She probably sold us out in exchange for immunity," Allie attempted to joke.

"It's a little early for that, isn't it?" Ruby asked Dean, gesturing toward the flask in his hand.

"It's 2 am somewhere," he replied. He was antsy. Dean rarely got antsy. Even when he was nervous, he usually stayed calm and collected.

"You okay?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, of course."

_Liar, _Allie thought to herself.

Just then, the wind suddenly started to pick up. The doors to the barn swung open. It was like déjà vu as Castiel walked into the barn, this time, however, Uriel was at his side. The doors swung shut again behind them. Sam and Dean moved closer to Anna, and Allie moved closer to Dean. She couldn't bring herself to look Castiel in the face.

"Hello, Anna," Cas said in a flat voice. "It's good to see you."

"How?" Sam demanded. "How'd you find us?"

Castiel looked at Dean, not needing to respond. Allie, Anna, and Sam all did the same.

"Dean?" Sam accused.

"I'm sorry," Dean said quietly, his eyes locked with Anna's.

"Why?" Sam demanded.

Anna turned back toward the angels, then to Sam. "Because they gave him a choice. They either kill me or kill you and Allie. I know how their minds work."

Allie finally looked up at Castiel. His eyes were cast down. Something was off with him. As she had before, she got the feeling that he didn't agree with Uriel.

Anna turned toward Dean again, placing a light kiss on his lips. "You did the best you could," she whispered. "I forgive."

Castiel had to look away as he watched Anna kiss Dean. Somewhere inside him, he longed to know what that would feel like...and he pictured Allie reaching up to do the same to him.

Anna moved toward the angels. "Okay, no more tricks. No more running. I'm ready."

_Come on you bastards, where are you? _Allie thought to herself. Time was running out, and if their plan did not play out within the next few seconds, they were screwed. Anna would die.

"I'm sorry," Castiel said.

"No," Anna replied. "Not really. You don't have the feeling."

"Still, we have a history. It's just-"

"Orders are orders. I know. Just make it quick."

Allie closed her eyes and held her breath, not wanting to witness what was about to happen. It didn't seem like the plan was going to work. So much for Sam's brilliant, foolproof plan.

"Don't you touch a hair on that poor girl's head."

Allie whipped around to see the super demon from the church, Alistair, Dean had called him, along with two stunt demons. They were holding a pale Ruby up between them. Her shirt was soaked in dark red blood and she was breathing heavily through the pain.

The Winchesters moved aside, huddling protectively around Anna as Uriel moved toward the demons. Ruby was thrown aside and then dragged herself away from the other demons.

"How dare you come in this room, you pussing sore," Uriel said quietly, his voice filled with rage and menace.

"Name-calling?" Alistair replied. "That hurt my feelings. You sanctimonious fanatical prick."

"Turn around and walk away now," Castiel ordered. He had not moved.

"Sure, just give us the girl. We'll make sure she gets punished good and proper."

"You know who we are what we will do," Castiel threatened. He moved forward to Uriel's side. "I won't say it again. Leave now, or we lay you to waste."

"Think I'll take my chances," Alistair replied lightly.

There was a brief moment of the silence until Uriel lunged at one of the stunt demons, driving him back into a wooden post. The other demon charged Uriel from behind. Castiel went for Alistair, connecting several punches to the demon's face before placing a hand on Alistair's forehead. Nothing happened.

"Sorry, kiddo," Alistair said. "Why don't you go run to Daddy?"

Allie suddenly felt fear for Castiel as Alistair threw him backwards, even though it seemed rather irrational. He wrapped a hand around the angel's throat and started chanting in Latin. Allie moved forward to help him. But Dean stopped her and went after Alistair himself, hitting him with a crowbar.

"Dean, Dean, Dean," Alistair said. "I am so disappointed. You had such promise." He held out a hand, and Sam and Dean dropped to their knees in pain.

"Cas," Allie whispered, kneeling down next to the angle. He looked her in the eyes, surprised by her concern for him.

Anna suddenly caught their attention as she pulled the vial containing her grace from around Uriel's neck and smashed it against the dirty floor. The bluish-white substance inside began to swirl and rise toward Anna. It slithered into her mouth and she dropped to her knees, groaning in pain.

"Shut your eyes," she said as he body began to glow and writhe. "Shut your eyes. Shut your eyes!"

As Allie started to turn away, something heavy, pushed her toward the floor and covered her protectively. It was only after a burst of pure white light swallowed Anna's pained cries that Allie realized that it was Cas.

Castiel had surprised himself when he had covered Allie to protect her from the light that would have blinded her. He hadn't even thought, he had just acted. She looked up at him with the same surprise on her face that he felt; confusion was mixed in too. He pushed himself up off the floor and joined Uriel.

Allie could not take her eyes off Castiel. She was vaguely aware that Alistair was gone and that her brothers were standing next to her when she got to her feet. She hadn't even really taken in the fact that their plan had worked after all.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Dean asked. "Aren't you gonna get Anna? Unless, of course, you're scared."

"This isn't over," Uriel threatened, moving toward Dean. Castiel put a restraining hand on Uriel's arm to stop him.

"Oh, it looks over to me, Junkless," Dean said.

Castiel glanced at Allie once more. She was still staring at him in confusion. But he would take it. It was better than disappointment.

With a rustle of fabric, the angels were gone. Allie's confusion didn't go with them. She couldn't figure out why Cas had protected her.

"You okay?" Sam asked Ruby as the demon limped toward them.

"Not so much," she breathed.

"What took you so long to get here?" Dean asked.

"Sorry I'm late with the demon delivery. I was only being tortured."

"I gotta hand it to ya, Sammy. Bringing them all together, all at once, angels and demons? It's a damn good plan," Dean commended.

"Don't tell him that. His head is already big enough," Allie joked, trying to shake off her confusion.

"Well, when you got Godzilla and Mothra on your ass, best to get outta the way and let them fight," Sam replied.

"Now you're just bragging."

"See, big head," Allie said with a laugh.

"So I guess she's some big-time angel now, huh?" Sam stated, changing the subject. "She must by happy."

"I doubt it," Dean said.

* * *

"Can't believe we made it out of there," Dean said. They had parked the Impala on the side of the road to have a victory beer.

"Again," Sam said.

"Thanks to Sam's big head," Allie added and they clinked their bottles together.

"I know you heard him," Dean said a couple minutes later. The mood suddenly shifted. Allie could sense what he was going to say was dark.

"Who?" Sam asked.

"Alistair. What he said. About how I had promise."

"We heard him," Sam replied glancing at Allie.

"You're not curious?"

"Dean, I'm damn curious, but you're not talking about Hell, and I'm not pushing."

They were all silent for a few seconds. Dean took a sip of his beer, and then started talking again.

"It wasn't four months, you know," he said.

"What?" Sam asked.

"It was four months up here, but down there...I don't know, time is different. It was more like forty years."

"My God," San breathed.

"Dean, you don't have to-" Allie started but Dean cut her off.

"Yes, I do," he replied. "You were right. I can't run away from this forever." He took a deep breath. "They, uh...they sliced and carved...and tore at me in ways that you...until there was nothing left. And then suddenly, I would be whole again. Like magic. Just so they could start all over. And Alistair, at the end of every day...every one, he would come over and he would make me an offer. To take me off the rack if I put souls on. If I started the torture."

As he talked, Allie forgot about everything else, even Castiel, and Sam sleeping with Ruby. Tears had started to roll down her cheeks, but what was coming was even worse.

"And everyday," Dean went on, "I told him to stick where the sun shines. For thirty years I told him. But then I couldn't do it anymore, Sammy. I couldn't. Then I got off that rack. God help me, I got right off it and I started ripping them apart. I lost count of how many souls...the things that I did to them..."

"Dean," Sam interrupted. "Dean, look, you held out for 30 years. That's longer than enyone would have."

Allie watched her older brother try to fight back tears. She could feel his pain tearing through her. Seeing him like this killed her and she didn't know what to do.

"How I feel," Dean said. "This..._Inside me. _I wish I couldn't feel anything, Sammy. I wish I couldn't feel a damn thing."

"Dean," Allie croaked. "This isn't your fault."

"I still did it, Al."

She figured he would fight her, since he wasn't a very touchy-feely kind of person, but she wrapped her arms around him anyway. He surprised her when he hugged her back.

"It's gonna be okay, Dean." She looked over at Sam. It was going to be a long road ahead.

* * *

Allie sat outside their hotel room, watching the sun set the day after Dean had confessed to them about Hell. She was still worried about him, but she couldn't help thinking about Castiel and how he had covered her protectively as Anna's body was ripped apart by her grace. She felt a gust of wind and turned to see Castiel standing beside her.

"Cas, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I need to talk to you," the angel replied.

"Me? Why?"

"I want to apologize."

"For what?"

"For my actions. I am truly sorry for what I did."

"Don't worry about it, Cas." She turned back to the setting sun.

"Allie, I-"

"Can I ask you something?" She looked up at him again. He nodded slowly. "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Shield me when Anna blew up. I mean, not twelve hours before you threatened to kill me if we didn't hand her over to you."

"That was Uriel. I did not even know that he talked to Dean or that he had any intention of threatening you or Sam. I was displeased when I found out."

Allie could see in his blue eyes that he was telling the truth. "But why protect me?"

Castiel looked down at his feet. He really didn't know why he had done it. All he knew was that, for some reason, he felt compelled to protect her. "I don't know."

"Oh, well. Thank you, anyway." She smiled up at him.

He was surprised to find the corners of his own mouth turn up slightly in a small smile. "You're welcome."

"You probably really aren't supposed to be here, are you?"

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

"I know that you upset with me. That was never my intention. I was following-"

"Orders. Yeah, I know. But why were you ordered to kill Anna?"

"She disobeyed. For us, there is no worse crime. It means death."

"But she just wanted to be able to think for herself. Haven't you ever wanted to be able to do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted?"

He didn't answer, instead contemplating her question. In all the years he had been around, he never did. Not until he'd met the Winchesters. He was suddenly having thoughts of his own, starting to feel for the first time ever."

"Cas?" Allie said breaking his thoughts.

"I'm sorry. I need to get back."

"Oh, okay. Bye, Cas."

With another gust of wind, he was gone, leaving Allie alone.


	15. All These Lives

_Sorry for the slow updating, but my time is consumed now that the semester-my very last- is winding down and graduation is steadily approaching. But here is chapter 15. It isn't a very good chapter, and it is very short but I wanted to get an update in since we had a snow day (fifth of the semester, which never happens). As much as I hate the snow, it's nice to get an extra day to catch up on work._

_Anyway enjoy, and I will get another one up as soon as I can.  
_

* * *

Allie felt like and icicle. They were standing in a cemetery in the middle of winter in Wyoming. She glared daggers at Sam, as this had been his idea, as he lit the candle around the headstone of twelve-year-old Cole Griffith. The boy had only just recently died, and no one else had died since, including a man who had been shot point-blank in the heart by a mugger. It seemed as if the usual reaper in the area had quit doing his job, and Sam had the brilliant of trying to summon the boy's spirit to see if he had any answers. Allie agreed that they needed to find out what was doing on in the area, but she wished there was a better way of doing it. She had never been fond of cold weather. She preferred sunshine and temperatures above seventy degrees.

"You sure this is gonna work?" Dean asked Sam as he thumbed through John's journal.

"No," Sam replied. "But if his spirit's around, this should smoke him out."

"So, even though we have no idea if this is even going to work, we're still out in the cemetery in the middle of the night, in the freezing cold?" Allie asked, her voice rising with the last two words.

"Is it the cemetery that bothers you?" Dean asked jokingly.

"Just the freezing freaking cold. Why can't we ever get a job in Florida or Arizona?"

Dean sighed and put the journal down.

"What?" Sam asked him.

"This job is jacked, that's what," Dean complained.

"How so?"

"I mean, you want me to gank a monster or torch a corpse? Hey, pft, let's light it up, right? But-but this? If we fix whatever this is, people will start dropping dead. Good people."

"You can't look at it that way, Dean," Allie said.

"How should I look at it then?"

"That's just life, Dean. We're born, we live for awhile, and then we die."

"None of us want these people to die," Sam said. "But there is a natural."

"You're kidding, right?" Dean questioned.

"What?"

"You don't see the irony in that? I mean, the three of us are the poster children of the unnatural order. All we do is ditch death."

"Yeah, but the normal rules don't really apply to us, do they?"

Dean chuckled darkly. "We're no different than anybody else."

"Sure about that?" Allie asked.

"I'm infected with demon blood. You've been to Hell," Sam stated. "Look, I know you wanna think of yourself as Joe the Plumber, Dean, but you're not. Neither am I. Sooner you accept that, the better off you're gonna be."

"Joe the Plumber was a douche," Dean mumbled.

"You gonna help me finish this?"

Dean stood and went to help Sam.

"Hey!" They turned to see that night watchman for the cemetery, shining a light in the faces. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, look, just take it easy," Sam said nervously.

"What the Hell is this?" the man asked, taking in the alter in front of Cole Griffith's grave.

"Oh, shit," Allie cursed.

"Oh this, this," Dean stuttered. "This is not what it looks like." He laughed.

"Really? Cause it looks like devil worship."

"What? No, no. This is not devil worship. This-this is-This-this is the-I don't have a good answer."

"Look, we're leaving," Sam said.

"You're not going anywhere. Ever again," the man said. "Sam." His eyes rolled back to reveal completely white ones.

"Alistair," Dean stated. "I thought you got deep fried, extra crispy."

"Nah. Just the pediatrician I was riding. His wife's still looking for him. It's hilarious. Anyway, no time to chat. Got a hot date with death." He flicked his hand, and Dean went flying backwards, slamming into a headstone.

"Dean!" Allie cried, and then she was on her back. The wind was knocked out of her lungs, but she hadn't hit her head like Dean had. She crawled over to Dean and watched as Sam flung Alistair into a tree, her eyes wide in shock. Sam raised his hand to pull him out of his meat suit, but he smoked out first.

"What the Hell was that, Sam?" Allie demanded.

"What was what?"

"Don't try to play stupid with me. Since when can you fling demons? And why couldn't he fling you?"

"I don't know. I guess I must be getting stronger."

She knew he wasn't telling her the entire truth, but now wasn't the time to argue about it. So she turned her attention to Dean. "Dean." She shook him gently. "Dean, wake up."

He groaned and started to stir. "Allie," he grumbled.

"Yeah, I'm right here."

"Ow," he groaned. "Son of a bitch."

"Help me get him up," Allie said to Sam as Dean tried in vain to get to his feet on his own.

They loaded him into the back of the Impala, and Sam took the driver's seat. Sam told Dean what had happened after he'd been knocked out, leaving out the part where he had flung Alistair. Allie wanted a freaking explanation, but they had more important things to worry about at that moment, especially now that they knew that Alistair was somehow involved.

Allie looked over at her twin brother, wondering what was going on with him. It really was like she didn't know him at all anymore. Sometimes, he even scared her. The Sam Winchester that had left his family for Stanford, that had fought so hard to get away from this life was gone. The Sam sitting next to Allie at that moment was a stranger. He was so different, but Allie could not figure out exactly what was causing the change. She only knew it must have something to do with Ruby.

They pulled into the parking lot, and Allie helped Dean out of the backseat. He groaned again as he laid down on the bed.

"You okay?" she asked.

"No."

"Hey," Sam said. "I'm gonna go make a quick phone call."

"Okay," Allie replied as she moved into the kitchenette to get some ice out of the freezer for Dean's head. She was almost positive that he was going to call Ruby. Instead of saying anything, she placed several ice cubes in a cloth and took it to Dean. "Here." She held it out to him.

"Thanks," he replied and placed it against his forehead.

Allie sat down in the chair and took a deep breath. She wanted to tell him about what had really happened at the cemetery, but she didn't know where to start. She opened her mouth to try, but Sam walked back into the room before anything came out.

"How you doing?" he asked Dean.

"In pain, that's how I'm doing," Dean replied. "I think I have a concussion."

"Want some aspirin?" Sam asked him.

"No thanks, House." Dean sat up with a grunt. "So, demons, huh?"

"Yeah, so much for miracles."

"What the Hell happened with Alistair again?"

"I told you. He tried to fling me or whatever and it didn't work, so he bailed."

Allie shook her head. Dean really should have known the truth, but she knew it would cause too many problems, which would just get in the way of them doing their job.

"How come he couldn't fling you?" Dean asked. "He chucked you pretty good last time."

"Got no idea."

"Sam, do me a favor. If you're gonna keep your little secrets, then I can't really stop you. But just don't threat me like an idiot, okay?"

"What? Dean, I'm not keep keeping secrets."

"Sure, Sam," Allie said sarcastically. "And I'm a brunette."

"Whatever. So did you go back and Q&A the dead kid?" Dean asked.

"Didn't have to," Sam replied. "Bobby called. He did some digging."

"And?"

"He thinks I'm right. Local Reaper's gone. Not just gone, kidnapped."

"But demons? Why?" Dean questioned.

"Listen to this." He started reading out of an ancient looking book. "'And he bloodied Death under the newborn sky. Sweet to taste, but bitter when once devoured.'"

"Swanky. What the Hell does that mean?" Dean responded.

"Well, it's from a very obscure, very arcane version of Revelations."

"Which means what I think it means?"

"Basically, you kill a Reaper under the solstice moon-which is tomorrow night, by the way-you got yourself a broken seal."

"Great, another one," Allie sighed. She missed the days when it was all about ganking angry spirits and Wendigos.

"How do you ice a Reaper?" Dean asked. "Can't kill death."

"I don't know," Sam replied. "Maybe demons can. Where the Hell are the angels is what I wanna know. We could use their help for once."

Allie wondered the same thing. They hadn't seen Cas since the night he had come to see her.

"It looks like we'll have to take care of this one ourselves," Dean said.

"How is that any different from any other time?" Allie asked rhetorically.

"Well, what are we gonna do? We just gonna swing in and save the friendly neighborhood Reaper?" Sam questioned.

"You got a better idea, I'm all ears," Dean replied.

"Dean, Reapers are invisible. The only people who can see them are the dead and the dying."

"Well, if ghosts are the only ones who can see 'em..."

"Yeah?"

"...then we become ghosts." He smiled and put the ice back to his head.

"Are you insane, Dean?" Allie snapped.

"You do have a concussion," Sam said.

"No, he has some serious brain damage," Allie corrected.

"It sounds crazy, I know," Dean said.

"It is crazy," Sam agreed. "How?"

Allie's head snapped toward Sam. "You aren't seriously considering this?" she questioned him.

"I don't think we have any other choice," Sam told her. "What do you have in mind?"

Dean turned toward Allie. "I don't think you're gonna like this, Al."

"Why?" she asked, taking in the sheepish look on Dean's face. It only took a second to realize what he meant. "Really? You want to drag her into this again? One of these times, she isn't gonna get back out!"

"We have to figure out what's going on here, Allie," Sam said, trying to convince his sister, but it was in vain.

"Then we'll find another way."

"There is no other way. If we don't do this, another seal will be broken and Lilith will be one step closer to setting Lucifer free."

Obviously it was two against one. Allie wasn't going to change her brothers' minds. So she just gritted her teeth and shook her head as Dean left to get Pamela.


	16. Another One Bites the Dust

_So I thought I would update again as a treat, as this story now has more than 7600 hits. I would like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing so far. It means a lot to me. _

_Anyway, this chapter, again, is not one of my favorites, but it is important. I thought "Another One Bites the Dust" was a good title, you know, because of what happens at the end. I wanted to get this one up because the next few chapter have more Cas, and we will be getting more Cas/Allie moments (I know there just are not enough of them, but we're getting there). So enjoy, and let me know what you think. Chapter 17 will be up as soon as possible:)_

* * *

"I can't even begin to tell you how crazy the three of you are," Pamela said as Sam opened the door.

"Not three, just those two," Allie said defensively. "I'm dead set against this."

Pamela came into the room wearing her usual black leather jacket and Ramones t-shirt, dark sunglasses covering the pure white orbs that had replaced her own eyes. Allie was glad to know that Pamela shared her feelings about her brothers' plan.

"Well, Pamela," Sam said, "you're a sight for sore eyes."

She let out a short laugh, pulling down her glasses. "Aw, that sweet, Grumpy. What do you say to deaf people?"

Allie bit her lip to choke back a laugh. She loved Pamela's sarcasm.

"Which one of you brainiacs came up with Astral Projection?" Pamela asked Sam and Dean.

"Yo," Dean said.

"Of course. Chachi."

Dean looked at Sam and Allie. "Chachi?" he mouthed to them. His siblings both just shrugged.

"So let's be clear. You wanna rip your souls out of your bodies and take a little stroll through the spirit world?"

"Stupid, isn't it?" Allie replied.

"Allie's right. Do you have any idea how heavy duty insane that is?"

"Maybe, but that's where the Reaper is, so—" Dean said.

"So it's nuts."

"Thank you, Pamela," Allie said smugly.

"It's not nuts if you know what you're doing," Dean argued.

"You don't know what you're doing," Pamela stated.

"No, but you do."

"Yeah, I do. And guess what: I'm sick of being hauled back into your angel-demon, Soc-Greaser crap."

"Well, look, I'd love to be kicking back with a cold one, watching Judge Judy too."

"Nice, more blind jokes."

"You know what I mean. We're talking the end of the world here, okay? No more tasseled leather pants, no more Ramones CD's, no more nothing. We need your help."

"Fine," Pamela conceded. "But I still don't like this."

They set up a bunch of candles and pulled the curtains. Allie was really uncomfortable with this plan. She had one of those feelings of impending doom and dread, when you just knew something bad was about to happen.

"Tell me something, geniuses," Pamela said. "Even if you do break into the veil and you find the Reaper, how you gonna save it."

"With style and class," Dean replied.

"You're gonna be two walking pieces of fog. You can't touch or move anything. You'll be defenseless, hot shot."

"I seem to recall a bunch of ghosts beating the crap out of us," Sam said, referring to the Witnesses.

"Yeah, they had plenty of time to practice," Pamela said.

"Well then I guess we gotta start cramming," Dean responded.

"Oh, wow. Couple of heroes. All right." She patted the bed in front. "Lie down. Close your eyes."

"Allie, why don't you sit this one out?" Dean said.

"Why? Think I'm not capable of handling this?"

"No. I just think it's best if you watch out for any demons here."

"Fine. Just be careful, okay?"

"Always am." He flashed her a smile and laid down on the bed.

Allie moved over to the kitchen counter and pulled herself up onto it. She still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. She watched nervously as Pamela started the incantation.

"Okay, guys, that's it," Pamela said. "Showtime."

"Did it work?" Allie asked.

"Seems like it," Pamela announced. "So I'm assuming you're somewhere over the rainbow. Remember I have to bring you back." She stood up. "I'll whisper the incantation in your ear." She bent down and whispered something in Sam's ear.

Allie smiled, sure she didn't want to know what Pamela had just said. She sighed, wondering how long this was going to take. Eventually her thoughts strayed to Castiel, to their conversation a few weeks earlier. She still didn't really understand why he so desperately felt the need to apologize to her.

"You okay over there?" Pamela asked, breaking into Allie's thoughts.

"Yeah, just thinking how incredibly stupid my brothers can be sometimes," she replied. It was only partially untrue. She had been thinking that...until Cas took over her thoughts as he often did.

"Is that all?"

"Um—"

"I can't read your thoughts, Allie, if that's what you're thinking. But I can sense things, feelings. You seem sad and confused. What are you really thinking?"

"I'm not sure you really want to know." She tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

"Try me."

"Well, I know you aren't a big fan of the angels, and I honestly don't blame you after what happened. But Castiel...there's just something about him, something I can't quite put my finger on. I can see something different in him, and it's driving me crazy because I can't figure it out."

"He's an angel. There's not much to figure out. They're dicks."

"But he's different...especially from Uriel. Uriel is always so ready to jump at the chance to kill a human. But Cas...he protected me. He sees human life as worth something."

"I'm sure he felt that way when he burned my eyes right out of my head."

Allie cast her eyes to the floor and sighed. "Look, Pamela, I understand where you're coming from, but I just, I know he's different."

"There's more to it than that." It wasn't a question.

"What do you mean?"

"You feel something for him."

"No, no. I mean he's an angel." Her voice rose as she nervously tried to cover her lie.

"You're a good liar."

"I just appreciate what he did for me, that all."

"Just be careful, Allie. You don't want to end up like me."

* * *

The sun had fallen below the horizon, and Sam and Dean were still in ghost land. Allie had moved from her place on the kitchen counter and had taken to pacing the floor for a while. When she tired of that, she sat down at the table but then went back to pacing around the room. She and Pamela had spent most of the time in silence following the conversation about Castiel.

"Did you hear that?" Pamela asked eventually.

"I didn't hear anything," Allie replied, stopping her circle around the room.

Pamela got up from her chair, turned the dead bolt on the door, and slid the chain lock.

"You okay, Pamela?"

"Something's not right." She crossed the room to the open window and slammed it shut. "I know you're here. What's the matter you reeking son of a bitch? You afraid of a couple of skirts?" She ripped open the shower curtain in the small bathroom.

"Pamela? What's going on?"

Before Pamela answered, Allie felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. Everything went black as she fell to the floor. When she came to, Sam was hovering over her.

"Pamela?" she said, struggling to sit up.

"Take it easy, Al," Sam said.

"I'm fine. Where's—" She saw Pamela sitting on the bed Sam had previously occupied, hunched over in pain. Dean was still unconscious on the other bed. "Pamela, what happened?"

"Damn demon got me," she replied, breathing heavily. "I'm all right. I still can't die."

Allie looked at Sam, knowing he could see the fear on her face. She had known this could only end badly, she just hadn't realized how badly.

* * *

Castiel was impressed with the Winchesters. They had saved a seal, and now Alistair was in the hands of the angels. Now that he could, Castiel needed to talk to Dean.

"What the Hell?" Dean said as Alistair disappeared.

"Guess again," Castiel said. Dean whipped around to face the angel.

"Wh-what?" Dean stuttered.

"What just happened? You and Sam just saved a seal. We captured Alistair. Dean, this was a victory."

"Well, no thanks to you."

"What makes you say that?"

"You were here the whole time?"

"Enough of it." He looked away, knowing what was most likely to come next from Dean's mouth.

"Well, thanks for your help with the rock salt."

"That script on the funeral home, we couldn't penetrate it." They had tried, but the demons had made sure that no angels could get in their way.

"That was angel-proofing."

"Why do you think I recruited you, Sam, and Allie in the first place?" He turned back to Dean.

"You recruited us?"

"That wasn't your friend Bobby that called, Dean. It wasn't Bobby who told Sam about the seal.

"That was you." The angel looked at the ground and nodded. "If you wanted our help, why didn't you just ask?"

"Because whatever I ask, you seem to do the exact opposite."

Dean took a deep breath. "What now? People in this town, they just gonna start dying again?"

"Yes," Castiel replied bluntly.

"These are good people. Don't you think you can make a few exceptions."

"To everything, there is a reason."

"You made an exception for me."

Castiel sighed. There was so much Dean did not know. "You're different." He didn't know what else to say without saying too much. Dean probably would not be able to handle the truth about why he was really saved from Hell. So he left.

* * *

"Pamela, please let us get you to the hospital," Allie pleaded with the other woman.

"No." She moved back to the beds. She sat down next to Dean and recited the incantation to wake him up. She then moved over to the empty bed once more, clutching her stomach.

"Hey," Sam said, moving to help her. "We just gotta talk to Tessa, get her to hold off reaping until we get you better."

"I'm pretty sure she's started up again," Pamela replied, easing herself back against the headboard. Allie looked down to see blood pouring out of the stab wound from between Pamela's fingers.

"Oh God, Pamela," Allie said, tears forming in her eyes.

In the other bed, Dean gasped and sat up. He turned toward the other three, taking in the blood seeping from under Pamela's hand. "What happened?"

"Dean, where's Tessa?" Sam asked as Pamela started breathing heavily.

"She's—" Dean started.

"Pamela," Sam said as she took off her dark sunglasses. "I'm so sorry."

"Stop," Pamela instructed.

"You don't deserve this."

"Yeah, I don't." She laughed weakly. "I told you I didn't want anything to do with this. Do me a favor. Tell that bastard Bobby Singer to go to Hell for ever introducing me to the three of you in the first place." She started coughing hoarsely.

"Take it easy, Pamela," Dean said. "If it's any consolation, you're going to a better place."

"You're lying," Pamela stated shaking her head. "But what the hell, right? Everybody's gotta go sometime." Her breathing was becoming labored as she waved for Sam to come closer. "Come her." She whispered something in his ear that Allie couldn't quite make out. She coughed again as she leaned back against the headboard once more. With one more cough and a soft groan, her eyes closed and her head slumped to the side.

"Pamela?" Dean asked. "Pamela!"

But this time she didn't answer. She was gone, and it was because of the three of them. Allie broke down into tears.

"What did she say to you?" Dean demanded.

Sam didn't answer, but the look on his face said that it was nothing good.

Pamela was dead, another name added to the list of people who had died because of the Winchesters. _Another one bites the dust, _Allie thought to herself.


	17. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

_So I decided to take a few minutes and get this uploaded. We are at 8400 hits now:) This is all from On the Head of a Pin, which is one of my favorite episodes. Cas is really starting to show doubt in this chapter. It is quite long, so I couldn't have everything from the episode in this chapter. And I loved the AC/DC song for the title, because of the torturing. _

_So anyway, enjoy chapter 17. I will have 18 soon hopefully, but it isn't quite finished yet and I want it to be perfect, because we will be getting some Cas/Allie time!_

* * *

The scene before him was chaos. Cars were piled up all over the road, their alarms cutting through the dark, rainy night. Castiel held out his hand and the car alarms were silenced. He moved forward through the cars strewn over the pavement toward the body lying between them. He knelt down next to her and pulled back the light piece of fabric that covered the wound at the base of her throat. Her blonde hair fanned out around her head, and Castiel briefly pictured Allie Winchester.

"Goodbye, sister," he said, feeling a slight pang of sadness at the loss of yet another angel. She made seven. He needed to figure out what was going on, and soon. Especially now that he was being punished for being to close to the Winchesters. He vanished into the night as the police cars drew closer.

* * *

Allie stared into the blackness passing by out of the Impala's back window. She was exhausted, not having slept since Pamela's death. Pamela was dead because of them...because of her. She had been there; she should have been able to stop it. Allie couldn't take anymore. She could have...no, should have saved Pamela.

"Ruby will meet us outside Cheyenne," Sam said from the driver's seat. "She's been tracking some leads."

"I don't think we need anymore demon bullshit right now, Sam," Allie said angrily.

"If she can get us to Lilith—"

"Hey, man," Dean interrupted, "work with Ruby, don't. I don't really give a rat's ass."

"What's your problem?"

"Which one of us?" Allie asked.

"Pamela didn't want anything to do with us, and we dragged her back into, Sam."

_Told you so,_ Allie thought, shaking her, annoyed. If they had listened to her in the first place, maybe Pamela would still be alive and telling Sam what a great ass he had.

"She knew what was at stake," Sam said.

"Oh, yeah, saving the world. And we're doing such a damn good job of it."

"Dean—"

"I'm tired of burying friends, Sam."

"You do remember it was your idea to bring Pamela back into this mess, right, Dean?" Allie snapped. He was getting on her nerves, complaining about Pamela's death when he didn't have a problem bringing her into their drama when it was convenient.

"Look," Sam said changing the subject before they started to fight, "we catch a fresh trail—"

"And we follow it. I know," Dean said.

"What good is that gonna do?" Allie demanded. "I know Lilith needs to be stopped, but he haven't even come close to figuring out a way to do that."

"Maybe Allie's right," Dean said. "I'm just tired."

"Well, get angry," Sam said in annoyance.

Sam pulled into the parking lot of yet another cheesy motel. They went into the office and checked in.

"Ah, home, crappy home," Dean said as they entered their pitch black room. Sam was the last in and flipped the light switch.

Allie jumped when she noticed that the room wasn't empty. Her heart thudded hard in her chest as she took in the two figures waiting for them.

"Winchester, Winchester, and Winchester," Uriel said in his quiet, drawling voice.

"Oh, come on," Dean complained.

"You are needed," Uriel said to Dean.

"Needed? We just got back from needed."

"Now you mind your tone with me."

"No, you mind your damn tone with us." Dean took a step toward Uriel.

"We just got back from Pamela's funeral," Sam said holding Dean back.

"Pamela," Dean said. "You know psychic Pamela? You remember her. Cas, you remember her. You burned her eyes out." Castiel looked at them for the first time. "Remember that? Good times. Yeah, then she died saving one of your precious seals. So maybe you could stop pushing around like chess pieces for five freaking minutes!"

"Dean, calm down," Allie said, knowing that Uriel probably would not tolerate the attitude for long.

"We raised you from Hell for our purposes," Uriel said quietly.

Allie tried to get Castiel's attention. Something was wrong with him. He was too quiet and he wouldn't look at her.

"Yeah, what were those again? What exactly do you want from me?" Dean demanded.

"Start with gratitude."

"Oh," Dean said with annoyed sarcasm.

Castiel turned to the Winchesters. "Dean, we know this is difficult to understand."

"And _we_...don't care," Uriel said turning to look at Castiel, who turned his attention back to the wall. He knew better than to say anything further. He was in enough trouble already.

Allie was confused. Something must have happened because Castiel usually seemed to be in control over Uriel. Now it seemed as if it were the other way around.

"Now, seven angels have been murdered," Uriel informed them. "All of them from our garrison. The last one was killed tonight."

"Demons?" Dean asked. "How they doing it?"

"We don't know."

"Wow, the angels don't know something," Allie said sarcastically.

Castiel turned to look straight at her for the first time. He could see the dark circles under her green-blue eyes. He wished he could go to her, to take her away from everything, but he chastised himself for thinking that way. That was what had gotten him into his current predicament. The angel pulled his eyes away from her face, his thoughts warring within his mind.

"I'm sorry, but what do you want us to do about it?" Sam asked. "I mean, a demon with the juice to ice angels has to be out of our league, right?"

"We can handle the demons ourselves, thank you very much," Uriel said.

"Once we find whoever it is," Castiel added.

"So you need our help hunting a demon?" Dean questioned the angels.

"Not quite," Cas said moving closer. "We have Alistair."

"Great. He should be able to name your trigger man."

"But he won't talk. Alistair's will is strong. We've arrived at an impasse."

"So what do you want us to do?" Allie asked. "Give him cookies and hugs until he opens up?"

"He's like a black belt in torture," Dean said. "I mean, you guys are out of your league."

"That's why we've come to his student," Uriel said. "You happen to be the most qualified interrogator we've got."

"Dean, you're our best hope," Cas said.

"No," Allie said. "You cannot ask him to do this."

Uriel moved closer to Dean, only inches away now. "Who said anything about asking?" he said quietly.

With a rustle of fabric, both angels vanished. Allie turned toward her brothers, and saw only Sam. Dean was gone, too. And God only knew where they had taken him.

"Damn it!" Sam bellowed.

"All right," Allie said as calmly as she could manage. "What do we do now?"

* * *

Castiel knew Dean was unhappy. He wasn't all that pleased with this plan himself. Dean stared through the window of the heavy steel door at Alistair, chained to an iron pentagram.

"This devil's trap is old Enochian," Castiel informed him. "He's bound completely."

"Fascinating," Dean replied turning away from the window. "Where's the door?"

"Where are you going?" He turned to watch Dean walking away.

"Hitch a ride back to Cheyenne, thank you very much."

Uriel vanished from his spot next to the table and reappeared right in Dean's path. "Angels are dying boy."

"Everybody's dying these days. And hey, I get it. You're all-powerful, you can make me do whatever you want. But you can't make me do this." He turned back to face Castiel.

"This is too much to ask, I know," Castiel said, crossing the floor toward Dean. "But we have to ask it."

Dean was silent for a moment, as if her were contemplating something. Then he turned toward Uriel. "I wanna talk to Cas alone."

"I think I'll go seek revelation," Uriel said. "We might have some further orders."

"Well, get some donuts while you're out," Dean said.

Uriel laughed. "This one just won't quit, will he? I think I'm starting to like you, boy. But watch the attitude or I might just have to pay a visit to that pretty little sister of your."

Castiel's entire body tensed at his brother's words. Before he could respond, Uriel was gone. Not that there was much he could do. His superiors had knocked him back a step or two already. He didn't need anymore.

"You guys don't walk enough," Dean said turning to Cas once again. "You're gonna get flabby."

Castiel stared at him, not really understanding what he meant.

"You know I'm starting to think Junkless has a better sense of humor than you do."

"Uriel is the funniest angel in the garrison. Ask anyone."

Dean moved closer. "What's going on, Cas? Since when does Uriel put a leash on you?"

"My superiors have begun to question my sympathies."

"Your sympathies?"

"I was getting too close to the humans in my charge. You. And your sister and brother. They feel I've begun to express emotions. The doorways to doubt. This can impair my judgment." He turned away from Dean. He knew they were all right. Cas had not just _begun _to express emotions; he was feeling them, in all their glory. He cared for the Winchesters more than he should. He worried about Allie, about her safety. These were not the qualities of good soldier of Heaven. That was why he was obeying Uriel.

"Well, tell Uriel, or whoever...you do not want me doing this, trust me."

The angel knew this would be incredibly difficult for Dean after what he'd been through in Hell. It was wrong. He truly hated this order, but he couldn't disobey right now. There was nothing he could. They needed to know who was killing off angels, his brothers and sisters, and this was their only hope.

* * *

There was a knock on the door of the hotel room. Sam pulled it open and in walked Ruby.

"You called her?" Allie spat.

"Nice to see you, too," Ruby retorted.

"Right now, she's our only hope at finding Dean," Sam said. "Just trust me, Al."

"Give me one good reason why I should."

"Because I'm your brother."

Allie laughed quietly and lifted her eyebrows. "Yeah. My brother who uses his demonic psychic powers and lies about everything." She picked up her leather jacket. "You're very trustworthy, Sammy. I'm going for a beer. Come find me if you figure anything out."

She pulled on her jacket and exited the room, shoving her hands in the pocket of her jeans as she walked down the road to the nearby bar. She found an empty bar stool and ordered her drink.

"You okay?" the man next to he said.

"I've been better." She turned to look at him. He was very good looking with spiky blonde hair and hazel eyes, around thirty or so, and muscular. He had a great smile, too.

"Guy trouble?"

"Not quite. More like family trouble. My brothers."

"Brothers?"

"Yeah, I have two of them, but one is more of a pain than the other. He's screwing around with this bitch that's getting him to do some really stupid things, and now he expects me to trust him." She took a sip of her beer.

"Sounds rough."

"You have no idea. There are just too many demons to handle." When the word demon came out, she thought he would look at her like she was crazy but he just laughed.

"I hear ya. Would you, um, would you like to dance with me?"

Allie laughed out loud. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. Really. But I haven't been asked to dance in so long."

"And why not? Any man would be crazy not to want to dance with someone as gorgeous as you."

"I really don't think most guys would want to dance with me if they really knew me."

"Why is that?"

"Well, for one thing, I'm a black belt, so I can kick some serious ass if I need to. And I carry several knives on me all at once."

"Are you like a cop or something?"

"Or something," Allie told him.

"So what _do _you do, exactly?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Okay, so I guess you aren't gonna tell me. My name is Cody, by the way." He held out his hand for her.

"Allie," she replied taking his hand in her own, which seemed to disappear in his grasp.

"So, Allie, are you here alone?"

"Yeah. Needed to get away from my brother and his little friend."

"What about your other brother?"

"He's, uh, honestly, I have no idea where he is right now. He was kind of kidnapped."

"Kidnapped? You don't exactly seem very upset about that."

"Well, it's kind of complicated. I don't think it could be considered illegal..."

"Your family sounds very interesting."

"You don't know the half of it."

He laughed. "Would you maybe wanna get out of here?"

Allie stared at him for a few long seconds. She contemplated it for a moment. Her brothers did it, why couldn't she? But then Castiel flashed across he thoughts. "Okay, you seem like a really nice guy and all, and I am very sure it would be a lot of fun. I could honestly use that, but I'm not really that kind of girl." She downed the last of her beer and hopped off the bar. "I'm just gonna go. I need to find my brother."

"Can I at least walk you out?"

"I think I can handle myself, thanks."

As she walked back toward the motel, she saw Sam coming out of the room. Ruby wasn't in sight. He looked different somehow since Allie had left him.

"Ruby got something," he said,

"Oh yeah? So where is she now? Laying in bed, smoking a post-sex cigarette?"

"She left," he replied, sounding angry. "She didn't want to be involved."

"Yeah, neither did Pamela. Maybe we _should _get Ruby to come along. She could get killed, too. Now that would be one death that would not bother me."

"Allie, stop."

"No. You aren't Dad. Let's just go find Dean." She climbed into the Impala. When Sam got behind the wheel, she turned the music up, an old Aerosmith song, knowing Sam wasn't all that into rock. But he didn't argue. They just drove in silence.

* * *

Alistair's screams escaped from the room where was trapped...being tortured by Dean. Castiel felt his stomach clench. He really did not like this. Escape seemed wonderful, but he couldn't leave, not without consequences. He leaned over the white folding table in front of him. The light above him burst, and Castiel knew she was behind him without looking.

"Anna," he stated.

"Hello, Castiel," she replied.

He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Your human body."

"It was destroyed, I know." She moved closer. "But I guess I'm sentimental. Called in some old favors, and..." She trailed off as Alistair's screams grew louder.

"You shouldn't be here," Cas said. "We still have orders to kill you."

"Somehow, I don't think you'll try. Where's Uriel?" She walked slowly to the other side of the table.

"He went to receive revelation."

"Right." She turned to face Castiel. "Why are you letting Dean do this?"

Castiel turned from her. "He's doing God's work." Even as he said it, the words felt wrong; they left a bitter taste on his tongue.

"Torturing? That's God's work? Stop him, Cas, please. Before you ruin the one real weapon you have."

"Who are we to question the will of God?"

"Unless this isn't His will."

"Then where do the orders come from?"

"I don't know. One of our superiors maybe, but not Him. The father you love, you think He wants this? You think He'd ask this of you? You think _this _is righteous?" She moved closer. "What you're feeling...it's called doubt."

Cas looked down at the table, listening to Alistair's tormented cries. He felt like those screams were inside him, bouncing off of his ribs, his skull, every inch of him, clawing their way to the surface. What Anna said...those same thoughts were running through his own mind.

Anna placed her hand lightly over Castiel's. "These orders are wrong and you know it. But you can do the right thing. You're afraid, Cas. I was too." She gripped his hand tightly. "But together we can—"

"Together?" Cas said, considering the word. He looked Anna in the face and ripped his hand away from hers. He was not only angry with her, but he was angry with himself for thinking the same way she did. "I am nothing like you. You fell." He walked away from her. "Go."

"Cas."

He turned to face her once more. "Go," he said forcefully. He looked down as she vanished in a gust of wind, leaving him alone with nothing but his warring thoughts and Alistair's screams.

The screams soon stopped, for much too long. Castiel was getting nervous. Then the loud smacking and thumping noises started. He rushed into the room to see Alistair holding Dean off the ground by the throat, Dean's face bloody and bruised. The knife was on the table, so Cas grabbed it. Alistair turned at the sound, and Cas plunged the knife deep into the demon's chest. He wasn't affected much and, letting Dean's limp, battered body fall to the ground, he easily threw the angel backward, but Cas remained on his feet.

"Well, almost," Alistair said, looking down at the knife. "Looks like God is on my side today."

Angered, Castiel raised his hand, twisting it, the knife twisting with it within Alistair's flesh. The demon grunted as he reached up and pulled the knife free from his body. It clattered to the floor as Alistair lunged at Castiel. They exchanged several hard blows before Alistair grabbed the angel by the throat, running him straight into a piece of metal sticking out of a column. The angel felt it go straight through his back, though for him, it was almost painless. Alistair let him slide down, slicing his back farther, before wrapping a hand around Castiel's throat once more.

"Well, like roaches, you celestials," the demon said. "Now I really wish I knew how to kill you. But all I can do is send you back to Heaven."

Castiel struggled as Alistair began reciting the spell that would rip him from his vessel and send him back to Heaven. As the spell began working, the angel's arms fell limply to his sides. It was causing him excruciating pain, depriving him of all other senses.

Then suddenly, it stopped. Alistair was thrown against the wall. Castiel collapsed, weakened by the spell. He looked up to see Sam, using his powers on Alistair.

"Cas!" Allie cried as she rushed into the room.

"Allie," he breathed as she ran to his side.

Allie helped Cas to his feet and they both turned to Sam and Alistair. Allie was afraid of her brother at that moment. He was getting stronger, and Allie didn't know how or why.

"Stupid pet tricks," Alistair sneered, though he was pinned back against the brick wall.

"Who's murdering the angels?" Sam asked. "How are they doing it?"

"You think I'm gonna tell you?"

"Yeah, I do." He twisted his hand and Alistair grimaced in pain. "How are the demons killing angels?"

"I don't know," Alistair growled.

"Right." Sam made a fist and twisted.

Alistair yelled out in pain. "It's not us. We're not doing it."

Allie gripped Castiel's arm tightly. Sam was truly terrifying to watch like this...he looked like a demon. Allie remembered Dean's words, that he'd want to hunt Sam, and realized that she felt the same right then. If he could do this, what else could he do.

"I don't believe you," Sam said.

Alistair grunted. "Lilith is not behind this. She wouldn't kill seven angels. Oh, she'd kill a hundred...a thousand." Sam lowered his hand and Alistair panted heavily. "Oh, go ahead. Send me back, if you can."

"I'm stronger than that now," Sam replied smugly. "I can kill now."

He raised his hand again. Castiel and Allie both watched in horror as the room shook and Alistair cried in pain. Sam didn't even look like he was trying that hard. Before, he had looked as if he was in pain when he had exorcise a demon. Now he could kill one without even breaking a sweat?

Castiel moved so that he stood between Allie and Sam, protecting her once more. Allie held tightly to his arm as Alistair went silent and slumped to the floor, his eyes wide in shock.

Sam turned to Allie and Cas. Allie stared at him in shock from around the angel's arm. She really didn't know him anymore.

"Allie," he started, warily, not knowing how she was going to react.

"Save it," she said, not wanting to hear any excuses. "Dean?" she said crossing the floor to his unconscious form. He didn't respond, but he was still breathing, but barely. "We've gotta get him to the hospital now. His breaths are really shallow."

They lifted him up and carried him out to the car. Allie was terrified. Dean was close to death, yet again, and Sam was treading on some very thin ice. But she didn't let it show. She realized as they got Dean into the car that Castiel, who had been right behind her, had vanished.


	18. The Ugly Truth

_So I tried to update yesterday, but the login was disabled, so I am doing it now. We have over 9000 hits now. _

_Chapter 18...Cas and Allie moments! I thought The Ugly Truth worked for the title because we learn who is responsible for the murders of the angels and why Dean was saved from Hell. So anyway, enjoy. And there will be some more Cas/Allie in the next chapter as well._

* * *

"Your brother's in pretty rough shape," the doctor told Sam and Allie. "We've transferred him to the ICU. We put him on a ventilator to help him breathe, which he is doing some on his own, but not very well right now. But I think he'll probably pull out of this."

"Thank you doctor," Allie said forcing a smile.

"Can we see him?" Sam asked.

"Yes, but he's still unconscious," the doctor said. "And he's connected to several tubes and wires."

_We've seen him like that before_, Allie thought to herself. But seeing Dean in the ventilator still wasn't easy. The long blue tube connected to the smaller tube in his mouth was still scary to see. Allie never wanted to see any human in this condition, but especially not her own brother. The brother she had always looked up to and went to in times of need. The brother she had already lost once and gotten back. He seemed so fragile and vulnerable to her lying in that bed, barely breathing on his own.

Allie and Sam sat quietly on either side of their brother, waiting and silently praying that he would soon wake up. The silence was interrupted only by the beeping and whirring of the machines keeping the eldest Winchester alive.

"Allie," Sam said quietly, breaking the silence between them. He was looking toward the door. She turned in that direction and saw Castiel standing in the hall. Sam's face hardened as he made his way toward the angel. Allie quickly followed, hoping to keep Sam from losing his temper.

"Sam—" Cas started.

"Get in there and heal him," Sam demanded. "Miracle now!"

"Sam, someone is going to hear you," Allie said through clenched teeth.

"I can't," Cas said.

"You and Uriel put him in there—"

"Sam, don't," Allie pleaded.

"No," Cas said defensively.

"—because you can't keep a simple devil's trap together."

"I don't know what happened. That trap...it shouldn't have broke. I am sorry."

"This whole thing was pointless. You understand that?"

"Sam, stop it. You don't need to talk to him that way," Allie said pulling on his arm. He shrugged her off

"Don't defend him, Allie," he said before turning back to the angel. "The demons aren't doing the hits. Something else is killing your soldiers."

"Perhaps Alistair was lying," Castiel replied with a false hope.

"No, he wasn't." Sam turned and went back into Dean's room.

"Cas, you okay?" Allie asked.

He looked up into her blue eyes. They were full of concern for him, once again, even though her brother was lying in a hospital bed. "Allie...I'm truly sorry for what happened to Dean."

"Cas, that wasn't your fault. These things happen. I don't blame you, and you shouldn't blame yourself either."

"But that trap, I made it myself. It was flawless." He was angry with himself for letting this happen.

"Don't beat yourself up over this, Cas. Alistair was strong. And I'm sure he had someone helping him. Besides, the doctors say that Dean is going to be fine. They think he'll wake up soon. So don't worry about this."

He stared at the floor in shame. Sam had been right. Dean had nearly been killed because of this order.

"Hey," Allie said, reaching up to touch his cheek lightly. She was so close to him. "This is not your fault, okay?" she repeated quietly. "Don't listen to Sam. He has no idea what he's talking about."

He stared at her. Her touch was soft and warm...his skin burned beneath it. When she pulled her hand away, his brow furrowed. It felt like she had pulled a piece of him away when her hand was gone. He was confused by it. "I'm sorry," he said again before he vanished with a gust of wind and rustle of fabric, going to find Uriel.

His brother was sitting on a bench, his eyes closed in concentration, in the middle of a snow-whitened park. "Castiel," he said without opening his eyes. "I received revelation from our superiors...Our brothers and sisters are dying and they-they want us to stop hunting the demon responsible."

Castiel sat down next to Uriel with a sigh. Should he tell his brother what Alistair had said?

"Something is wrong up there," Uriel continued. "I mean, can you feel it?"

"The murders, maybe they aren't demonic," Castiel said slowly, thinking carefully of Sam's words, as well as Allie's. "Sam Winchester sayd the demons had nothing to do with it."

"If not the demons, what could it be?"

Castiel thought hard for a moment, suddenly coming to a realization. "The will of Heaven. We are failing, Uriel. We are losing the war. Perhaps the garrison is being punished."

"You think our Father would—?"

"I think maybe our Father isn't giving the orders anymore," Cas stated, now thinking of his conversation with Anna.

Uriel stood up. "Well, I won't wait to be gutted," he said and vanished with a rustle of fabric.

Castiel stared out over the playground. He needed to figure something out. No more of his brothers and sisters could die. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he needed some advice from someone who could understand what he was...feeling.

* * *

"When are we going to talk about what happened, Al?" Sam asked. The sun had set outside the window of the hospital, and Dean was still unconscious.

"Talk about what?"

"You know what."

"What, the fact that you're still using your super powers, or the fact that suddenly you can _kill _demons without any trouble?"

"Allie, what was I supposed to do? We needed that information out of Alistair, and he wasn't talking any other way."

"Then tell me one thing: how are you doing it? How are you getting stronger?"

"I don't know. Just growing, I guess."

She stared at him as he said it, and sure enough, his nostrils flared as the always did when he lied. Allie nodded concentrating on a scuff mark on the floor. "You really shouldn't try to lie to me, Sammy, cause I can read you like a book."

"I'm not—"

"Yeah, you are. Don't treat me like I'm stupid." She stood up from her chair next to Dean's bed. "I'm gonna go try to get some sleep. Call me if anything changes."

* * *

"Anna," Castiel called desperately into the frigid night air. "Anna, please."

The street light above him flickered. He turned to see Anna's slim, red-headed form.

"Decided to kill me after all?" Anna said.

"I'm alone."

"What do you want from me, Castiel?"

"I'm considering disobedience."

"Good."

"No, it isn't." He knew it wasn't. But he was at war with himself. Something big was happening in Heaven. He didn't know who he could and couldn't trust anymore. And then there was...Allie. He cared too much for her, and her brothers. "For the first time, I feel..." He didn't know how to finish that sentence, unable to put into words the emotions that he was experiencing, as he had never experienced them before.

"It gets worse," Anna said. "Choosing your own course of action...is confusing..." She slowly made her way forward. As she got closer, he couldn't keep himself from picturing Allie coming closer to him with a smile on her face. "...terrifying," Anna continued. He looked at it, strangely comforted, before she drew it back. "That's right. You're too good for my help. I'm just trash. A walking blasphemy." She turned and started walking away from him.

"Anna. I don't know what to do. Please tell me what to do."

"Like the old days? No, I'm sorry. It's time to think for yourself." She suddenly vanished.

Castiel considered her words carefully. _It's time to think for yourself. _He really didn't know how to think for himself. He had never done it before...at least not until he had met the Winchesters. Since he'd met them, most of his thoughts were of Allie. What was he supposed to do now? Anna had been his last hope.

Looking around, he noticed a water fountain. The drip of water caught his attention and a new thought occurred to him.

He had been right. After going back to take another look at the Devil's trap, he'd noticed a leaking pipe which had dripped just enough to cause a small fault in the white line of the trap. It may have been small, but it was all Alistair had needed to break free in the end. He was beginning to realize something as he turned his raised hand to shut off the water.

"You called?" Uriel appeared a few seconds later. :What do you say, Castiel? Will you join me? Will you fight with me?"

"Strange," Castiel said, ignoring the other angel's question. "Strange how a leaky pipe can undo the work of angels...when we ourselves are supposed to be the agents of fate." He was sure he knew what had happened now. All he needed was to draw out the truth.

"Alistair was much more powerful than we had imagined."

"No. No demon can overpower that trap. I made it myself." He watched Uriel closely. "We've been friends a long time, Uriel. Fought by each other's sides, served together, away from home...for what seems like forever," Cas said, moving closer to the other angel. "We're brothers, Uriel. Pay me that respect. Tell me the truth."

"The truth is, the only thing that can kill an angel..." There was a metallic scraping sound as a long silver blade slid out of Uriel's sleeve. "...is another angel," he whispered as he held up the blade.

"You," Castiel stated, his suspicions confirmed.

"I'm afraid so."

"And you broke the devil's trap, set Alistair on Dean."

"Alistair should never have been taken alive. Really inconvenient, Cas. Yes. I did turn the screw a little. Alistair should have killed Dean and escaped, and you should have gone on happily scape goating the demons."

"For the murders of our kin?" Cas asked angrily.

"Not murders, Castiel. No. My work is conversion. How long have we waited here? How long have we played this game by rules that make no sense?"

"It is our Father's world, Uriel" Cas turned away, ashamed of his brother.

"Our Father?" Uriel responded in frustration. "He stopped being that, if He ever was, the moment He created _them._ Humanity, his favorites. This whining, puking lava."

"Are you trying to convert me?" Cas demanded.

"I wanted you to join me. And I still do. With you, we can be powerful enough to—"

"To...?"

"To raise our brother."

"Lucifer," Cas stated in disgust. This was Uriel's endgame, to raise Lucifer from Hell?

"You do remember him?" Uriel said, brushing past Cas. "How strong he was? How beautiful? And he didn't bow to humanity. He was punished for defending us. Now, if you wanna believe in something, believe in him."

"Lucifer is not God."

"God isn't God anymore." Uriel moved past Cas again. "He doesn't care what we do. I am proof of that. And you can be, too."

"But this?" He slowly turned to face the other angel. "What were you gonna do Uriel? Were you gonna kill the whole garrison?"

"I only killed the ones who said no," Uriel replied. Cas shook his head and looked down at the floor. "Others have joined me, Cas. Just imagine it. You could have real emotions, real desires. You would not have to hide how you feel about the Winchester girl."

Castiel looked up at his brother in surprise. He _could_ imagine that, but not at this cost.

"Please brother, don't fight me," Uriel continued. "Help me. Help me spread the word. Help me bring on the apocalypse." He shook his head. "All you have to do...is be unafraid."

Castiel shook his head and looked down again. "For the first time in a long time...I am."

Uriel smiled, sure he had won his brother. Castiel, however, meant that he was unafraid of what he was about to do. He pulled his arm back and connected his hand with Uriel's chest, sending him backwards into a brick wall. Uriel went straight through the wall, but quickly got back to his feet. He moved toward Cas, landing a blow to Castiel's face. The two angels exchanged several punches before Uriel grabbed two handfuls of Castiel's trench coat and threw him at a column. Castiel got to his feet again, hitting a couple of punches to Uriel who then grabbed a large piece of metal pipe. He swung it, connecting with Castiel's head. Cas fell to his knees.

"You can't win, Uriel," he said. "I still have God."

"You haven't even met the man!" Uriel shouted. "There is no will." He punched Cas again. "No wrath." Another punch. "No God."

As Uriel pulled his arm back once again, he suddenly gasped in pain as his long silver blade pierced through his throat.

"Maybe or maybe not," Anna said quietly into Uriel's ear. "But there's still me." She pulled the blade out, and Uriel collapsed to the ground with a goan.

He screamed in pain as pure-white light emanated from him. Within seconds, the light was gone, along with Uriel's screams.

Castiel pushed himself to his feet and looked over at Anna. Neither of them said anything for a moment.

"Thank you," Cas finally said, looking back to Uriel's now empty, lifeless vessel.

"You're welcome," she replied. "Cas, I'm here if you want to talk about this."

He did want to talk about it, but not to her. He didn't even really know who he could talk to. But he ended up going to see the first person that came to mind.

* * *

Allie laid still on the bed in the darkened hotel room. She had gone back to try to get some sleep, leaving Sam at the hospital with Dean. So much was on her mind, however, that she had not been able to fall asleep. Instead, she laid there, staring up at the ceiling. She had lost all track of time when she heard a rustle of fabric, nearly falling off the bed in surprise.

"Cas?" she said into the darkness as she reached for the lamp on the nightstand. When she finally found it and switched on the light, the angel was standing at the foot of her bed, not looking at her. "Cas, are you okay?"

"Allie," he said quietly. "It was Uriel."

"What? Uriel?"

"He was the one killing the angels."

"Oh, Cas. I'm sorry. She pushed herself off the lumpy bed and moved toward him slowly. "What happened?"

Cas stared at a flower on the tacky-looking carpet. His thoughts were at war inside his head once again. He felt angry, betrayed, disappointed. Uriel had been the one to kill their brothers and sisters.

"Cas," Allie said looking up at him from under her heavy lashed. "Why don't you come sit down?" She led him over the bed. "Tell me what happened.."

"He was trying to get the other angels help him, to...join him."

"Help him do what?" Allie asked.

"To raise Lucifer." He looked at Allie as she drew in a sharp breath. "He killed the ones who said no."

"He asked you, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"So he knew all along that Alistair had nothing to do with it. And he still insisted that Dean—"

"Yes. And he broke the devil's trap. His intention was for Alistair to..."

"To what?"

"To kill Dean. If I hadn't been there, he would have."

"Cas, I really am sorry." She placed her hand over his, surprised by warm and soft his skin felt. She had imagined that it would be as hard and cold as stone, like the vampires in _Twilight, _which she read in secret. Her brothers would never let her live it down if they knew she read them.

"There's something else that you should know," Cas said quietly. "About why we pulled Dean from Hell. When he started to torture other souls, that was the first seal. That why Lilith had wanted Dean. It was the only way to start the apocalypse."

"But if you knew that, why didn't you save him sooner?" she asked, not accusingly, simply curious.

"It was too late. When we finally realized that was what Lilith had intended, we went in for him, but he'd already said yes to Alistair."

"Does Dean know this?" Allie asked, knowing what this information would do to her brother, and it wouldn't be good.

"I don't think so. I thought he should know, but I knew it would do him more harm than good."

"You're right. He'll see it as his fault...Is he going to be okay, Cas?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I'm sorry again about Uriel."

"Thank you," he said quietly, looking down at her hand lying over top of his. It felt warm against his skin. It was the most contact he'd ever had with a human, and it felt nice. Anna's touch had comforted him, but this was different.

"If you ever need someone to talk to again, Cas, you know where to find me. I'm a good listener."

He looked her in the eyes again. As always, her beauty captivated him, especially what he could see in her eyes. There was the strength and wisdom of someone who had seen way to much in such a short life, but there was also a genuine warmth and caring, one that he didn't see very often in humans.

The sound of chirping birds filled the room as Allie's cell phone buzzed on the nightstand. She got up to grab it, and when she turned back to Cas, the angle had disappeared. She flipped the phone open, cursing under her breath, without even checking the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Allie, it's me," came Sam's deep voice.

"Sam, what's wrong? Is Dean—"

"Dean's fine. He just woke up."

"He's awake?"

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago. He's still a little out of it, but he's gonna be okay."

"Thank God. I'm on my way over."

"No, just stay there for now. I just wanted to let you know."

"Are you sure? I mean you could probably use some sleep too."

"Don't worry about me. Just get some rest, Al."

"Okay, sure. I'll see you in the morning then." She hung up and laid back down on the bed. Now that Dean was actually awake, she was sure she could probably sleep a little. And sure enough, she was out in minutes.

* * *

Castiel sat in the chair in Dean's hospital room, staring at the wall. He listened to the sounds of the different machines around him. It was a strange place. Though he didn't look at Dean, he could tell when he woke up again.

"Are you all right," he asked Dean.

"No thanks to you," Dean replied weakly.

"You need to be more careful."

"You need to learn how to manage a damn devil's trap," Dean retorted.

"That's not what I mean. Uriel is dead."

"Was it the demons?"

"It was disobedience." He looked at Dean, whose face was peppered with cuts and bruises, a tube around his head going into his nose. "He was working against us."

Dean was silent for a moment. "Is it true? Did I break the first seal? Did I start all this?"

"Yes," Cas replied honestly. He hadn't wanted Dean to learn the truth, but Alistair must have shared it with him, so now there was no avoiding. "When we discovered Lilith's plan for you...we laid siege to Hell, and we fought our way to get to you before you..."

"Jump started the apocalypse."

Cas looked up at the ceiling, leaning his head back against the green chair. "And we were too late."

"Why didn't you just leave me there, then?"

"It's not blame that falls on you, Dean...it's fate. 'The righteous man who begins it is the only one who can finish it,'" Cas quoted. He turned to Dean. He could see the pain behind his eyes. "You have to stop it."

"Lucifer?" Dean said, barely louder than a whisper. "The apocalypse? What does that mean?"

Castiel turned away again. He didn't know how to answer Dean's question. He wasn't sure what it meant for sure, either.

"Hey," Dean said as forcefully as he could manage. "Don't you go disappearing on me, you son of a bitch. What does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"Bull!"

"I don't." He forced himself to look at Dean again. Thought they didn't really look much alike, he could see Allie in Dean's face. "Dean, they don't tell me much. I know...our fate rests with you."

"Well, they you guys are screwed," Dean croaked. "I can't do it, Cas. It's too big. Alistair was right. I'm not all here. I'm not-I'm not strong enough." His lip trembled as a tear slid down his cheek. "Well, I guess I'm not the man either of our dads wanted me to be...Find someone else. It's not me."

"Cas?" Allie said from the doorway.

He turned to her. Her was pulled back into a loose ponytail, a few loose strands framing her face. She was beautiful, even with her hair a little messy.

Allie looked from Cas to Dean and back again. Cas looked up at her. He looked sad...and so did Dean. Before she could say anything else, Cas was gone.

"Dean? You okay?" Allie asked moving closer cautiously. He wouldn't look at her, but she could tell that he'd been crying. "You know. Cas told you, didn't he?"

He didn't answer. He just stared out the window.

"Dean." She moved around to the other side of the bed. He tried to turn away again. "Will you stop it, Dean? You are acting ridiculous!"

"How should I act, then, Al? This is happening because of me."

"Don't you do that. You listen to me, Dean Winchester. This is not your fault So do NOT lay here and feel sorry for yourself."

"They expect me to stop all of this. I can't do it. It's too much for one person."

"What about three? You aren't alone in this, Dean. You have me and Sam. We're family, in this together, and we will stop this. No matter what it takes. Lucifer will not be set loose."

Allie sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand over Dean's.

"I can't do it, Al."

"Yes you can. I know you can. And I'll be with you every step of the way."


	19. We're Living On the Edge

_Hello all. I had planned to update yesterday, but I ended up in the emergency room for tonsillitis (which, by the way, is extremely painful). Thankfully, they just gave me antibiotics and told me to take Advil for pain, and I am beginning to feel better already. So, anyway, here is chapter 19, We're Living on the Edge, so named for the Aerosmith song. I mainly picked it because they're awesome and I couldn't think of another name for the chapter. But anyway, we have a brief Cas/Allie moment in this one and we find out about the books. So enjoy, and chapter 20 will be up as soon as possible. Much love to all those who reviewed chapter 18 (you all know who you are), keep 'em coming. I love to hear from you all._

* * *

"When was the last time you saw them?" Bobby asked.

"I told you, Bobby," Allie said, exasperated, and let her arms fall against the desk in Bobby's library. "It was about three weeks ago. We were in Texas, working a case. We had just finished and we were about to head out...and then they were just gone."

"Gone?"

"Yes, Bobby. They pretty much just vanished into thin air. I mean, they left everything behind. Clothes, guns, the Impala. Dean doesn't go anywhere without his gun or his car. I've tried tracking their cell phones, but either they don't have them or their turned off. I called every hunter we know. I even checked every morgue and hospital within a three hundred mile radius of where they went missing. There's nothing, Bobby."

"We'll find them, Allie."

"What if we don't?"

"Maybe..." he said trailing off reluctantly.

"Maybe what?" She reached for the bottle of Jack Daniels sitting next to the computer and poured herself a glass. She didn't even like Jack, but she needed it.

"Have you tried contacting Ruby?"

Allie looked up at him with one eyebrow raised, glass of Jack halfway to her lips. "You're joking, right, Bobby? Ruby?"

"You want to find your brothers. You said she helped you and Sam find Dean before."

"No. That is not an option."

"I'm beginning to think it's our only option, kid."

Allie shook her head as another thought occurred to her. "No. I think there's another way. I just hope it works."

* * *

She felt silly as she stood near Bobby's garage. She knew she could have done this inside, but she was embarrassed to do it in front of Bobby.

"Please let this work," she whispered. Then she raised her voice. "Cas? Cas, can you hear me? My brothers are missing, and I don't know what else to do. You're my last hope. Please, Castiel. I need your help." Her voice cracked as she hung her head. It had been foolish, thinking that he would come. "This was stupid," she told herself. She turned to go back to the house thinking that maybe she would have to settle for Ruby. Then a light breeze blew her hair back from her face, and she looked up to see Castiel standing between her and the path to the house. "Cas," she breathed.

"Hello," he said.

"You actually heard me?"

"Yes. I was..." He trailed off, not wanting to say that he'd been watching over her. "Nearby," he said instead.

"Do you know where they are?"

"Yes."

"So they're alive?"

"Yes."

"Then where are they?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?" she demanded angrily. Cas was a little surprised by the outburst. She had never raised her voice to him like that before.

"Because they're doing something for us."

"The angels took them? Why?"

Cas sighed. He shouldn't be telling her anything, but she was visibly distraught, and he would do anything to help her. The only way of doing that was to tell her as much as he could. "Zachariah is testing them."

"Who the hell is Zachariah? And what does that mean, he's testing them?"

"He's one of my superiors. They both seem to have lost their way lately, Dean especially. Zachariah wanted to see if they would still be drawn to hunting, even if you're father hadn't raised the three of you that way. He's given them new names, new memories, new lives, and placed them in jobs at a haunted company, hoping they will hunt the spirit."

"So they don't even know who they really are right now?"

"No."

"Are they going to stay that way?"

"No, only until they both realize that this is what they are destined to do."

"To be hunters."

"Yes. And to stop the apocalypse."

Allie sighed and sat down on the hood of a mangled old Chevy. "So you can't do anything?"

"No, but I assure you, they are okay." He paced closer to her. "I'm sorry, Allie. I wish I could do more, but I can't."

"I know." She looked up at him with red eyes. "Thank you, for at least telling me they're okay."

It pained him to see her this way. He wanted to comfort her, so she would know that everything would be all right, like she had done for him the night he had fought with Uriel, when she'd placed her hand over his. That small gesture had made him almost forget what Uriel had done to the other angels. So he slowly reached out and placed his hand over her much smaller one.

Allie was surprised by the angel's touch. She stared at his hand for a few seconds before looking up at him with a smile. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Are you all right?" he asked her quietly.

"Yeah, I am." In fact, she hadn't felt quite this good in a long time. She felt safe, hopeful for the first time since Dean had returned from Hell.

"I have to go," Cas said, reluctantly pulling his hand away from Allie's. He could hear his brothers calling for him. "If you need me again..."

Allie nodded. As he vanished, she could still feel the warmth of his hand on her skin. She stayed on the hood of the car for a few minutes before returning to the house.

"Everything okay, kid?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah," she replied quietly. "They're okay. Both of them."

"Your brothers? How do you know that?"

"I, um, I talked to Cas. He couldn't tell me where they are, but he said he knows that they're okay."

"You believed him?"

"Why wouldn't I?" She felt offended.

"The angels aren't always exactly trustworthy."

"If it was any other angel, I wouldn't trust him. But Cas is...different. He saved Dean's life, Bobby."

"Okay. If you trust him, I do, too. You've always been a good judge of character, and I trust you."

"Thanks, Bobby."

* * *

Allie tugged at the hem of the knee-length black skirt she was wearing as she and her brothers walked into the comic book store. She hated wearing the suit, but they to look the part of FBI agents. She was just so much more comfortable in her jeans, boots, and leather jacket.

"Uh, can I help you?" the man behind the counter asked.

"Sure hope so," Dean said, pulling out his fake ID and badge. "Agents De Young, Shaw, and Ford. Just need to ask you a few questions."

"Notice anything strange in the building the last couple of days?" Sam asked.

"Like what?" the man asked.

"Some other tenants reported flickering lights," Dean said.

"Uh, I don't think so. Why?"

"What about noises? Any skittering in the walls, kind of like rats?" Sam questioned.

"And the FBI is investigating a rodent problem?"

"Sir, we have reason to believe that there is some illegal activity going on in this area," Allie said with a smile. "So if you could just answer the questions."

"Okay," he replied staring at Allie as if he had never seen a woman before.

"What about cold spots?" Sam continued. "Feel any sudden drops in temperature?"

The man suddenly smiled. "I knew it," he said. "You guys are LARPing, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?" Allie responded, confused.

"You're fans?"

"Fans of what?" Sam asked.

"What is LARPing?" Dean questioned.

"Like you don't know." All three Winchesters stared at him in confusion. "Live action role playing. And pretty hardcore, too."

"Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about," Dean said.

"You're asking questions like the building's haunted. Like those guys and the chick from those books. What are they called? _Supernatural_." Again, they stared at him like he was an alien. "Two guys and a chick use fake IDs with rock aliases, hunt down ghosts, demons, vampires. What are their names? Uh, Steve, Dirk, and Amy? Sal, Dane, and Annie?"

"Sam, Dean, and Allie?" Sam offered.

"That's it!"

"You're saying this is a book?" Dean asked. Allie could hear the same annoyance she felt in his voice.

"Books. It was a series. Didn't sell many copies, though. Kind of more of an underground cult following." He got up and walked over to a small case filled with old paperback novels. "Let's see, um...Ah, here." He pulled out one of the books and handed it to Dean. "That the first one, I think."

"_Supernatural_, by Carver Edlund," Dean read. One the cover were two guys, when that looked like a young Fabio, and a woman that looked eerily similar to Allie, standing next to a '67 Impala. Dean turned the book over and read the synopsis. "'Along a lonely California highway, a mysterious woman in white lures men to their deaths.'"

Allie's mouth hung open in shock. This couldn't be possible. The story sounded like a job they worked years earlier. John had gone missing while working a case in Jericho, California. Dean and Allie went to Stanford to convince Sam to help them. It had been the first hunt Sam had been on since he'd left for school. They picked up where John had left on the case, discovering that the string of murders were being committed by the ghost of a woman named Constance Welch. She had killed her two children, then killed herself after finding out that her husband was unfaithful, and as a spirit, only killed unfaithful men. There was no way the book could be real.

"Give me that," Sam said, ripping the book out of Dean's hands. "We're gonna need all the copies of _Supernatural _you got."

* * *

_This is nuts, _Allie thought to herself as she read through the very first book. It was scary accurate. Everything was there on the page. Their mother's death, the fight between Sam and Dean when they'd broken into the apartment Sam had been sharing with his girlfriend, Jess, right down to the gray Smurf shirt that Jess was wearing that night. Constance possessing the Impala and trying to run them down was there, too, including how Sam had told Dean that he smelled like a toilet after he'd climbed out of the dirty river.

She closed that one and grabbed another book from the pile. This one was called _In My Time of Dying. _It started off right after the car accident with their father when Dean was nearly killed. Again, everything was there, even the part when John had warned Dean that if he couldn't stop Sam, he'd have to kill him. Allie place the book aside before she got to John's death. She didn't really want to read that.

"This is freaking insane," Dean said. He was lying on the bed, skimming through one of the books, _Route 666_, which depicted their run in with a possessed monster truck that was targeting African-Americans. They had picked up on the case after an old girlfriend of Dean's had contacted him for help following her father's murder. "How's this guy know all this stuff?"

"Got me," Sam replied.

"I think he's been spying on us somehow," Allie joked."You know, Big Brother's watching."

"Everything is in here," Dean continued. "I mean, everything. From the racist truck, to me having sex. I'm full frontal in here, dude."

"Ew, remind me not to read that one," Allie said.

"How come we've never heard about these before?" Dean asked.

"They were pretty obscure," Sam replied, looking at a fan page online as Dean joined his brother and sister at the table. "I mean, almost zero circulation. Started in '05. Publisher put out a couple dozen before going bankrupt. And the last one, _No Rest for the Wicked_," he turned the computer around so Allie and Dean could both see the website, "ends with you going to Hell."

"Well, I reiterate. Freaking insane," Dean said. "Oh, check it out, there's actually fans. Not many of 'em, but still. You read this?"

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"Although for fans, they sure do complain a lot. Listen to this. Simpatico says, 'The demon story line is trite, clichéd, and overall craptastic.' Yeah, well, screw you, Simpatico, we lived it."

"Yeah, well, keep reading. It gets better."

"There are Dean-girls and Sam-girls...What's a slash fan?"

"As in...Sam-slash-Dean. Together."

Allie nearly choked on the water she had just taken a sip of as she started to laugh. That was too much.

Dean's head snapped up in Sam's direction. "Like, 'together' together?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"They do know we're brothers, right?"

"Doesn't seem to matter."

Allie laughed. At least there was some humor in the craziness.

"You wouldn't think it was so funny if you were involved Dean said in disgust.

"Actually, there were a few where she was," Sam stated.

As disturbing as that was, it just made Allie laugh harder. She wasn't really ever sure why she found it so funny. Maybe it was because the whole situation was absolutely insane.

"Oh, come on," Dean complained. "That-that's just sick." He closed the laptop and leaned back in the chair. "We gotta find this Carver Edlund.

"That might not be so easy," Sam said.

"Why not?"

"No tax records, no known address. Looks like Carver Edlund is a pen name."

"Somebody's gotta know who he is."

"What's the name of the publisher?" Allie asked.

"Why?" Dean responded.

"They have to know who he is. I mean, they write his checks. We'll start there."

"You're a genius, Al."

"Well, yeah, I know I am. But that wasn't exactly rocket science. It didn't take all that much thought."


	20. Stranger Than Fiction

_So up to chapter 20. Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter. Much love to all of you. We're almost to 12,000 hits. I'm trying really hard to keep up now that I feel better, but I have one more week of classes and then finals. After graduation, I have a week off, then I start my new job. Somewhere in there, I need to start studying for my licensure exam, so it's gonna be hectic for me. I will do my best because I love this story and I want to hear from all of you. It makes me happy._

_Anyway, enjoy chapter 20: Stranger Than Fiction, so named for the Will Ferrell movie. I thought it worked well, what with the Winchesters meeting Chuck and all._

* * *

They had managed to hunt down the bankrupt publisher of the _Supernatural _books, a woman with dark hair, a large blonde streak down the right side named Sera Siege. She was obviously a fan of the books. There were posters of the book covers framed on the walls. The entire series was neatly lined up on a shelf. To pry some information out of her, they told her that they were writing an article on the series together.

"So you published the _Supernatural _books?" Sam asked her.

"Yup," she replied. "Yeah. Gosh, these books..." She walked over to the shelf holding the books. "You know they never really got the attention they deserved. All anybody wants to read anymore is that romance crap. You know, _Dr. Sexy, MD_?" She let out a short sigh. "Please."

"Right," Sam said. "Well, we're hoping that our article can shine some light on an underappreciated series."

"Yeah," Sera said excitedly. "Because, you know, if we got a little bit of good press, maybe we could start publishing again."

"No, no, no," Dean objected. "God, no. I mean, why-why would you wanna do that? You know, it's, uh, it's such a complete series...what with Dean going to Hell and all."

"Oh, my God, that was one of my favorite ones," she exclaimed. "Because Dean was so strong and sad and brave. And Allie is always so smart. And Sam-I mean, the best parts are when they cry. You know, like in _Heart_, when Sam had to kill Madison, the first woman since Jessica he really loved. And in _Home_, when Dean had to call John and ask him for help." She started to sniffle and turned away from the Winchesters. Allie had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing at this woman. "If only real men were so open and in touch with their feelings."

"Ain't that the truth," Allie said smiling at her brothers. She was enjoying all of this way too much.

"Real men?" Dean repeated.

"Uh, I mean, no offense," Sera continued. "How often do you cry like that?"

Allie opened her mouth to respond to that question, having a really good response, but Dean even really know who he could talk to. But he ended up going to see the first person that came to mind. Uriel' then grabbed a beat her to the punch.

"Well, right now, I'm crying on the inside," he said sarcastically.

"Is that supposed to be funny?

"Lady, this whole thing is funny."

"Look," Allie said smacking Dean on the arm. "We aren't trying to be funny. He just, uh, doesn't always think before he speaks. Kinda like Dean."

Sera stared at them for a moment. "How do I know you three are legit, hm?"

"Oh, trust me," Dean replied as Sera walked around to her red desk chair. "We, uh-we're legit."

"Well, I don't want any smart ass article making fun of my boys. Or the girl."

"No," the three of them said together.

"We wouldn't do that," Allie said. "We take the books _very _seriously."

"Yea, we are actually, um...big fans," Sam continued.

"Hm. You've read the books."

"Cover to cover," Dean replied proudly.

"What the year and model of the car?"

"1967 Chevy Impala," Dean stated proudly.

"What's May 2nd?"

"That our-that's Sam and Allie's birthday," Sam answered.

"January 24th is Dean's," Dean added.

"Sam's score on the LSAT?"

"One...seventy-four?" Sam replied, making it sound more like a question.

"Dean's favorite song?"

"It's a tie. Between Zep's 'Rambling On' and 'Traveling Riverside Blues.'"

"Allie's full first name?"

"Allison," Allie stated reluctantly. She hated the name and had refused to answer to it from the time she was four years old. That was when John had started calling her Allie, except when she was in trouble. "But she hates it," she added on.

Sera chuckled. "Okay, okay. What do you wanna know?"

"What's Carver Edlund's real name?" Sam asked without beating around the bush.

"Oh no," she replied shaking her head. "No, sorry, I can't do that."

"We just wanna talk to him. You know, get the _Supernatural _story in his own words."

"He's very private, just like Salinger."

"Please," Allie said. "We really are huge fans and meeting Mr. Edlund would be like a dream come true for all of us."

"Yeah, we are..." Sam added as he started to unbutton his coat and shirt. "...big..." He pulled his shirt aside to reveal the protection tattoo on the left side of his chest. "...big fans."

She looked at Dean who reluctantly pulled down the collar of his t-shirt, to show off his own tattoo. Then all three of them looked over at Allie. She sighed and lifted the hem of her t-shirt, showing off the tattoo on her side. Her brothers had tried to get her to get hers in the same spot they did, though she really didn't know why, but there was no way she was getting a tattoo on one of her breasts. But they were good to have. They protected them from demonic possession.

"Awesome," Sera said. "You know what?" She stood up, turned her back to them, and pulled down her underwear, lifting the hem of her dress. "I've got one, too."

Allie cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"Wow, you are a fan," Dean stated.

Sera giggled. "Ha. Wow. Okay." She grabbed a pad of note paper and a marker and wrote something down. "His name's Chuck Shurley. And he's a genius, so don't piss him off."

"Well, that was interesting," Allie said as they got into the car. "She was a little strange. But I liked her."

* * *

They pulled up in front of an old rundown red house. The yard was a mess. The Winchesters exchanged glances as they approached the house. They weren't sure of what to expect when they actually met this Chuck Shurley. Dean pressed the doorbell, and Allie braced herself.

The door opened to reveal a disheveled man wearing a striped bathrobe. He seemed timid. Not at all what Allie had been expecting. But then again, she hadn't really known what to expect.

"You Chuck Shurley?" Dean asked.

"The Chuck Shurley that wrote the _Supernatural _books?" Sam continued.

"Maybe," he replied in a squeaky voice. "Why?"

"Be nice," Allie said quietly to Dean.

"I'm Dean. This is Sam, that's Allie. The Dean, Sam, and Allie you've been writing about."

Chuck looked at them like they were crazy. "Yeah," he whispered with a nod, and then shut the door.

Dean pushed the doorbell again as Sam cleared his throat.

Chuck opened the door again. "Look, uh, I appreciate your enthusiasm. Really, I do. It's always nice to hear from the fans. But, uh, for your own good, I strongly suggest you all get a life." He started to close the door again, but Dean pushed it back open. Chuck looked intimidated.

"Easy killer," Allie said. As unhappy as she was about the situation, she didn't think they needed to be mean. At least not until they found out what was really going on.

"See, here's the thing," Dean said. "We have a life. You've been using it to write your books." He pushed into the house. Chuck looked scared now.

"Wait a minute," Chuck protested. "Now this isn't funny."

"Damn straight, it's not funny."

"Look, we just wanna know how you're doing it," Sam said calmly.

"I'm not doing anything," Chuck responded.

"Are you a hunter?" Dean questioned.

"What? No, I'm a writer."

"Then how do you know so much about demons?" Dean asked, moving forward making Chuck back away. "And tulpas and changelings?"

"Dean, take it easy," Allie said forcefully as Chuck backed into the side of the couch and fell over.

"Is this some kind of _Misery _thing?" Chuck asked. "It is, isn't it? It's a _Misery _thing!"

"It is not a _Misery _thing," Dean replied. "Believe me, we are _not _fans."

"Well, then what do you want?" Chuck demanded.

"I'm Sam, and that's Dean, and that's Allie," Sam stated.

"Sam, Dean, and Allie are fictional characters. I made them up. They're not real!"

"I hate to tell you this, Chuck, but we are real," Allie said.

"Come with us," Dean instructed. "I wanna show you something."

"Are you gonna kill me?" Chuck squeaked.

"We might," Dean replied.

"Dean!" Allie scolded.

They led Chuck out to the Impala and Dean popped open the trunk.

"Are those real guns?" Chuck asked.

"Yep," Dean replied. He patted a canvas bag. "This is real rock salt, these are real fake IDs."

Chuck let out a short laugh. "I gotta hand it to you guys. You really are my number one fans. That's awesome. So there's—I think I've got some posters in the house." He turned and started to make a break for the front door.

"Chuck, stop!" Dean said.

"Wait. Please don't hurt me," Chuck pleaded with them.

"We're not going to hurt you," Allie said trying to reassure him.

"How much do you know?" Sam asked. "Do you know about the angels? Or Lilith breaking the seals?"

"Wait a minute, how do you know about that?" Chuck asked in a surprised tone.

"Question is, how do you?" Dean responded.

"Because I wrote it."

"You kept writing?" Sam said.

"Yeah. Even after the publisher went bankrupt. But those books never came out." He looked between the three Winchesters, then started laughing. "Okay, wait. This is some kind of joke, right? Did that—" He pointed at the house next door with his thumb. "Did Phil put you up to this?"

Dean glanced at Sam and Allie before speaking again. "Well, nice to meet you. I'm Dean Winchester and this is my brother Sam and my sister Allie."

"Last names were never in the books," Chuck said. "I never told anyone about that. I never even wrote that down."

"Well, then I guess that's all the proof you need, Chuck," Allie said.

They went back inside, Chuck poured himself a drink and downed it in one gulp. As he turned around, he cried out in surprise to find the Winchesters still standing in his office.

"Oh, you're still there," he said as he rubbed his eyes.

"Yep," Dean said.

"You're not a hallucination."

"Nope."

"Well, there's only one explanation. Obviously I'm a God."

"You're not a God," Sam argued. Allie snorted at the idea.

"How else do you explain it? I write things and they come to life. Yeah, no, I'm definitely a God. A cruel, cruel, capricious God."

"Chuck," Allie tried to interrupt as she struggled to hold back a laugh.

"The things I put you through," Chuck carried on. "The physical beatings alone."

"We're still in one piece," Dean said.

"I killed your father. I burned your mother alive. And you had to go through the whole horrific deal again with Jessica."

"Chuck," Sam said.

"All for what? All for the sake of literary symmetry." He turned back to the kitchen. "I toyed with your lives, your emotions, for entertainment."

"Okay, Chuck," Allie said. "You didn't create us. We were around long before you started writing the _Supernatural _books."

Chuck turned around again suddenly, his arms crossed over his chest. "Did you really have to live through the bugs."

"Yeah," Sam said.

"What about the ghost ship?"

"Yes, that too," Dean replied.

"I am so sorry. I mean, horror is one thing, but to be forced to live bad writing. That's—I—If I'd known it was real, I would've done another pass."

"Oh, good Lord, Chuck, will you just shut up!" Allie said loudly. Now he was just getting on her nerves. The humor was gone now.

"You're not a God," Dean said.

"We think you're probably just psychic," Sam added.

"No," Chuck replied, shaking his head, and sat down at his desk. "If I were psychic, you think I'd be writing? Writing is hard."

"It seems that somehow you're just focused on our lives," Sam stated.

"Yeah, like laser focused," Dean continued. "Are you working on anything right now?"

"Holy crap," Chuck said quietly.

"What?"

He picked up a small pile of papers. "The, uh, the latest book. It's uh—it's kind of weird."

"Weird how?" Sam questioned.

"It's very Vonnegut."

"_Slaughterhouse-Five _Vonnegut or _Cat's Cradle _Vonnegut?" Dean asked. Allie stared at him in surprise. She didn't think Dean would even know who Kurt Vonnegut was. He was the type of guy who usually only read Playboy, Penthouse, and Car and Driver. She was pretty impressed.

"What?" Sam asked, sounding just as impressed and surprised as Allie.

"What?" Dean repeated.

"It's, uh, _Kilgore Trout _Vonnegut," Chuck said. "I wrote myself into it. I wrote myself...at my house...confronted by my characters."

"This is crazier than Psycho Teddy," Allie said, her eyebrows raised. "How did you not know who we are if you're writing all of this already?"

Chuck didn't answer her question. Instead, he gave them the manuscript to the book he was currently working on. It was all starting to creep Allie out a little, reading about herself that way. She could only hope that Chuck didn't let her brothers see anything that involved anything with her or Castiel.

* * *

"I'm sitting in a Laundromat, reading about myself sitting in a Laundromat reading about myself," Dean said, reading the manuscript. "My head hurts."

Chuckled as she folded her laundry. She'd read through it first, making sure that Chuck didn't include any of her thoughts of a certain angel.

"There's something this guy's not telling us," Sam said, before shoving an armful of clothes into the dryer.

"'Sam tossed his gigantic darks into the machine,'" Dean read. "'He was starting to have doubts about Chuck, whether he was telling the whole truth.'"

Sam turned around, looking at Dean with annoyance. "Stop it," he said.

"'Stop it,' Sam said.' Guess what you do next."

Sam fidgeted and turned and away again so his back was to Dean. Allie watched the two of them, entertained by the interaction, and wondering what Dean was going to say next.

"'Sam turned his back on Dean, his face brooding and pensive.'" That one wasn't hard to get. Sam brooded a lot. "I mean, I don't know how he's doing it, but this guy is doing it. I can't see your face, but those are definitely your brooding and pensive shoulders." Allie noticed Sam sigh as Dean turned back to the manuscript. "You just thought I was a dick."

Sam turned toward them again. "Guy's good."

Allie snorted. Who needed TV when you could watch Sam and Dean all day long. It seemed like there was never a dull moment when she was with her brothers. She loved it when they argued like this.

Dean stared at his younger brother. "Bitch," he said quietly as his cell phone went off in his pocket. "Hello?" he said into it. "Chuck?"

Allie stopped folding her clothes as she listened to Dean's end of the conversation.

"You had another vision?" he said. "Yeah, we'll be right over."

"What was that about?" Allie asked as Dean placed his phone back in his pocket.

"Chuck saw something else. Said he needs to talk to us right away and that he didn't want to tell me over the phone."

"Is that all he said?"

"Yep, pretty much word for word."

"Okay, then." Allie shoved the rest of her laundry into her duffel bag.

* * *

Chuck looked a bit shaken when they reached his house. He left the Winchesters in the living room while he went to get more of his manuscript from the printer.

"So you wrote another chapter?" Sam asked when Chuck rejoined them.

"This was so much easier before you were real," Chuck complained nervously.

"We can take it," Dean said. "Just spit it out."

"You especially are not gonna like this," he told Dean.

"I didn't like Hell."

"It's Lilith. She's coming for Sam."

"What?" Allie asked breathlessly. Her heart started pounding.

"Coming to kill him?" Dean asked.

"When?" Sam questioned, taking a couple of steps toward Chuck.

"Tonight."

"She's just gonna show up? Here?" Dean asked.

Chuck put on his glasses and sat down on the couch next to Allie. He cleared his throat. "'Lilith patted the bed seductively. Unable to deny his desire, Sam succumbed, and they sank inot the throes of fiery demonic passion.'"

Allie stared at him, not sure whether she should laugh, cry, or scream. Then Sam started to laugh. "Why are you laughing?" she demanded.

"You're kidding me, right?" he said.

"You think this is funny?" Dean questioned.

"You don't? Come one. 'Fiery demonic passion?'"

"It's just a first draft," Chuck added quietly. "It's not—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Dean interrupted. "Lilith is a little girl."

"No," Chuck replied, shaking his head. "This time, she's a 'comely dental hygienist from Bloomington, Indiana.'"

"Great," Dean said. "Perfect."

"I'm getting a headache," Allie said, rubbing her temples.

"So what happens after the fiery demonic whatever?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. It hasn't come to me yet."

"Dean, look, there's nothing to worry about," Sam said.

"'Nothing to worry about?'" Allie repeatedly. "I seem to remember you saying the same thing about Ruby and your powers, Sam."

"But _Lilith _and me?" Sam continued. "In bed?"

"How does this whole psychic thing of yours work?" Dean asked, ignoring Sam and Allie.

"You mean my process?"

"Yes, your process."

"Well, it usually starts with a headache. Aspirin is useless, so I drink til I fall asleep. The first time it happened, I thought it was just a crazy dream."

"The first time you dreamt about us?" Dean asked.

"It flowed," Chuck continued. "It just-It kept flowing." He put his head in his hands. "It still does. I can't stop it really."

"You can't seriously believe—"Sam started.

"Humor me," Dean interrupted, annoyed that Sam wasn't taking this seriously. He stood up and moved toward Chuck. "Look, why don't we...? We just—" He stopped short as Chuck handed him the pages in his hand. He took them and continued calmly. "Take a look at these and see what's what." He looked at Chuck in confusion. "You—"

"Knew you were gonna ask for that. Yeah."

"Thanks, Chuck," Allie said as she pushed herself up from the couch. She was beginning to kind of like him. This whole screwed up situation really wasn't his fault.


	21. Opposite Day

_Wow, it has been a really long time since I updated! Life has been crazy these last few months, but I passed my exam for my nursing license, so I will have more free time, and I intend to make up for the lack of updates. _

_So chapter 21! Enjoy :)_

* * *

"Come on, Dean," Sam exclaimed as they drove back to their motel. "'The minivan accident wasn't that bad, but Dean was still seeing stars. He scratched absently at the pink flower Band-Aids on his face.'"

"So?" Dean retorted.

"So I've seen you gushing blood. You'd use duct tape and bar rags before you'd put on a pink flower Band-Aid."

"Well, maybe that was all that was left at the store," Allie said. "What's your point anyway, Sam?"

"My point is this…all of this is totally implausible. It's nuts."

"It's completely nuts," Allie replied. "How is that any different than usual for us? Besides, I went through all the books. He's never been wrong about any of it, Sam. So do you really think he's gonna start now?"

"'Dean slid behind the wheel of his beloved Impala and drove off, the plastic tarp on the rear window flapping like the wings of a crow.'"

"A tarp?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Yeah, on the rear window. And you drive it like that."

"Well, he may be wrong about the details. That doesn't mean he's wrong about the end result."

"So we're just gonna run?"

"Dude, we are a long way from ready for a showdown with Liltih."

Allie leaned forward as Dean slowed the car. Two police cars were blocking the road ahead of them.

"What seems to be the problem?" Dean asked the officer that approached the Impala.

"Bridge is out ahead," he replied.

"Well, we're just trying to get outta town."

"Yeah, afraid not."

"Is there a detour?"

"Nope."

"No side-road to take us to the highway?"

"To get to the highway, you have to cross that river. To cross the river you take the bridge."

"Well, how deep's the river?"

"Sorry. Afraid you're gonna have to spend the night in town."

"And the Winchester luck strikes again," Allie joked as Dean turned the car around.

"So what do we do now?" Sam asked.

"First we eat," Dean replied.

* * *

They stopped at a diner to get some lunch. Dean continued reading the manuscript. Allie was careful not to let her thoughts wander to Cas, in case Chuck could see them. It was really awkward, knowing that her every movement was fair game for Chuck to see. She couldn't help wondering which parts of their lives Chuck could and could not see.

"Hey, this could be a good thing," Dean said about the new chapter of the book. "If this is what puts us on the path to Lilith, then all we gotta do is get off the path."

"How do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Well it's a blueprint for what not to do. I mean, if the pages say that we go left-"

"Then we go right," Allie finished for him.

"Exactly. We get off book, we never make it to the end. It's opposite day."

"It's not bad, Dean," Allie said.

"It's says that we get into a fight, so no fighting," Dean told Sam.

"That won't be hard at all," Allie joked.

Dean shot her a dirty look. "No research for you," he told Sam.

"No bacon cheeseburger for you," Sam told Dean.

Dean's face fell. "Yeah, no problem. I'll order something else. And no walks for Allie."

Allie wasn't happy about that. Her daily walk gave her time to think and clear her head. But if it kept Lilith away from Sam, then she would go for it.

"Hey," the waitress greeted them as she approached their table.

"Hi," Dean replied. "What's good?"

"Well, if you like burgers, Oprah's girlfriend said we have the best bacon cheeseburgers in the country."

Allie stifled a laugh. The irony was too funny. The one time Dean couldn't have his favorite meal, he had to be in a place with a great bacon cheeseburger.

"Really?" Dean replied as Sam chuckled.

"I'll just have the Cobb salad, please," Sam said.

"I'll have the tuna salad sandwich," Allie stated.

Dean looked at Sam, a disgusted look painted on his face. "I'll have the veggie tofu burger," he said reluctantly. As he handed his menu to the waitress, he gave Sam and Allie a smug look.

"Thanks," Sam told the waitress with an amused smile. "This whole thing's ridiculous," he complained when the waitress was gone.

"Lilith is ridiculous?" Dean asked incredulously.

"The idea of me hooking up with her is."

Allie raised her eyebrows at him questioningly. Now he suddenly had a problem with a screwing a demon? Maybe it was only because it was Lilith? He preferred Ruby.

"Right," Dean said sarcastically, as if he could read Allie's mind. "Because something like that could never happen."

Allie bit her lip, trying not commend Dean. She certainly couldn't tell him he was wrong for saying it when she was thinking the same thing.

"Dean, for the first time, we have warning that Lilith is close," Sam said, forcing his voice to remain even.

"So?" Dean asked.

"So…we get the jump on her. If we know when she's coming, we know where…This is an opportunity."

"Are you-?" Dean started, raising his voice.

"Dean, no fighting," Allie reminded him.

"It frustrates me when you say such reckless things," Dean said, listening to what Allie had said.

"Well it frustrates me when you'd rather hide than fight," Sam replied.

Allie ran a hand through her hair. "It frustrates me when you two feel the need to fight."

Sam and Dean stared each other down until the waitress reappeared with their food.

"Cobb salad for you. Tuna salad sandwich for you. And the tofu veggie burger for you."

"Thank you," Dean said. He picked up his burger and leaned toward Sam. "It's not hiding, it's being smart. It's picking your battles. This is a battle that we're not ready to fight."

"He's right, Sam," Allie said. "We'll find a way to stop her and then we'll take her out, but not now." She popped a french fry into her mouth.

Dean took a bite of his burger. "Oh my, God," he said with his mouth still full. "This is delicious. Tofu is amazing."

"I am so sorry," the waitress said, reappearing once again at their table. "I gave you the bacon cheeseburger by mistake." She picked up the plate and took the burger from Dean's grasp.

"Well, there goes that idea," Allie said as Dean and Sam exchanged looks.

* * *

"Dude, this place charges by the hour," Sam complained as Dean pulled into the parking lot of the Toreador Motel.

"Yeah, well, the book says Lilith finds you at the Red Motel," Dean replied. "Hence the, uh, Hooker Inn. It's opposite day, remember?"

"And I think we already found one of those hookers," Allie said, watching a young woman in short shorts and a red halter top walking by hand-in-hand with a very happy looking young man. "I hope people don't mistake me for one."

Sam and Allie watched Dean as he dug through his bag once they were in their room. He pulled something out and placed it on the desk. Allie realized that the small black bag was one of Ruby's hex bags.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked while Dean moved across the room to place another hex bag.

"Couple hex bags ought to Lilith-proof the room," Dean replied.

"So what, I'm supposed to just hole up here for the night?" Sam asked.

"That's exactly what you're gonna do, okay? And no research. I don't care what you do. You can use the Magic Fingers or watch _Casa Erotica_ on pay-per-view."

Dean looked at Sam and pulled the laptop out of its bag.

"Oh, dude, come on," Sam complained.

"Just call it a little insurance."

"What are you gonna do?" Allie asked.

"The pages say I spend all day riding around in the Impala, so I'm gonna go park her. And Allie, you stay here, too." He lowered his voice so Sam couldn't hear him. "Keep an eye on him."

"Why can't I come with you?" Allie asked him quietly.

"Because he's going to try something. Just watch him, please, Al."

"Okay," she replied shaking her head.

Dean moved to the door. "Behave yourself," he said to Sam. "No homework. Watch some porn."

"Dude, have you forgotten I'm here?" Allie said, feeling grossed out.

"You can watch, too."

"There is something seriously wrong with you," Allie said as Dean walked out the door.

* * *

Allie paced the floor, frustrated that she couldn't go anywhere. She wanted to go out and walk, just to do _something._ She couldn't even get on the internet because Dean had taken Sam's computer.

"Allie, can you please stop doing that?" Sam said from the table.

"I'm sorry. I just can't stand sitting around here doing nothing."

"Neither can I. But you pacing isn't helping."

"Fine." She flopped down onto the bed. Time seemed to be dragging on. Minutes felt like hours, and Allie wondered how long they were going to keep up this ridiculous charade.

Allie heard Sam walk into the bathroom but didn't take her eyes off the ceiling. It seemed like he was in there for a while, but she wasn't really sure.

When he finally came out, she sat up. "I'm going to get a soda. Do you want anything?"

"No, I'm good."

"Well, don't say I didn't offer."

It was warm when Allie stepped outside. She took in a deep breath of the fresh air. The vending machine wasn't far from their room, so she walked slowly across the parking lot, wishing she had just gone with Dean anyway. She noticed that there was a park next to the motel. She couldn't stand the idea of going back into the stuffy motel room, so she made her way to a park bench and sat down. In her opinion, it wasn't actually a walk, so she didn't think it would count against them. As she stared out over the green grass and trees, her thoughts strayed to Castiel, as always. Though it seemed impossible, he seemed to be on her mind more and more lately. She was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't even notice Chuck walking toward their motel room.

* * *

Far away, Castiel could hear the argument between Dean and Chuck, hear the rising anger in Dean's voice, and knew he had to intervene. What he saw was Dean with a handful of Chuck's shirt, the smaller of the two men backed against the wall, cowering.

"How the hell are you doing this?" Dean shouted.

"Dean, let him go," Cas said. Dean whipped around to face the angel. "This man is to be protected."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"He's a Prophet of the Lord."


	22. This is My Last Resort

_Hey everybody. This is the revised version of the chapter. Thanks to all those who pointed out the error at the end of the chapter, and the next one will be up sometime before the the end of the week._

* * *

Dean stared at Castiel in stunned silence. Cas could tell that the information he had just revealed about Chuck was the farthest thing from Dean's mind.

"You-" Chuck said quietly. "You're Castiel, aren't you?"

"It's an honor to meet you, Chuck," Cas said. "I admire your work." He picked up a copy of the _Scarecrow _book that had been lying open, print down on the table.

"Whoa, whoa, what?" Dean protested as Chuck scurried about the room. "This guy? A prophet? Come on. He's practically a _Penthouse Forum _writer. Did you know about this?" Dean questioned Chuck, who had sunk down in his chair with a bottle of alcohol.

"I, uh-I might have dreamt about it," Chuck replied.

"And you didn't tell us?"

"It was too preposterous, not to mention arrogant. I mean, writing yourself into the story is one thing, but as a prophet? That's like M. Night-douchiness."

"This is the guy who decides our fate?" Dean asked Castiel.

"He isn't deciding anything," Castiel replied, still looking through the book. "He's a mouthpiece, a conduit for the inspired word."

"The Word?" The Word of God? What like the New, New Testament?"

"One day, these books will be known as the Winchester Gospel."

"You gotta be kidding me," Dean and Chuck said in unison.

"I am not kidding you." Cas looked up at Dean. He wasn't even sure exactly what that phrase meant, but he was pretty sure that he wasn't "kidding" them.

"If you'll both please excuse me one minute," Chuck said brushing past Dean and Cas. He hurried up the stairs with one last glance at the other two.

"Him? Really?" Dean said skeptically.

"You should have seen Luke," the angel replied shaking his head.

Dean walked past Cas, keeping his back to the angel. "Why'd he get tapped?"

"I don't know how prophets are chosen. The order comes from high up on the celestial chain of command."

"How high?" Dean inquired as he turned around.

"Very."

"Well, whatever. How do we get around this?"

"Around what?"

"The Sam-Lilith love connection. How do we stop it from happening?"

"What the prophet has written can't be unwritten. As he has seen it…so it shall come to pass."

* * *

The sun had slipped below the horizon and Allie had reluctantly returned to the motel room when the door opened and in walked Dean.

"Come on," he said. "We're getting out of here."

"What? Where?" Sam responded.

"Anywhere, okay? Out of this motel, out of this town."

"Dean, we can't get out of here," Allie reminded him. "Bridge is out, remember?"

"I don't care if we gotta swim," Dean said, not caring about Allie's statement. "We are getting out."

Sam just took a deep breath as Dean walked toward the desk. Dean looked around for something, though Allie wasn't sure what.

"Dude, where are all the hex bags?" Dean asked.

Allie looked around and suddenly realized that the hex bags, were in fact, gone. How had she not noticed that sooner?

"I burned them."

"You what?"

"Look, if Lilith is coming, which is a big if-"

"No, no, no. It's more than an if."

"What do you mean?" Allie asked.

"Chuck is not a psychic. He's a prophet."

"What?" Sam responded.

"Cas showed up. And apparently Chuck is writing the Gospel of Us."

Allie opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't think of anything to say. And then she realized that Dean had mentioned Cas, and some of the fog cleared from her head.

"Okay," Sam said.

"Okay, let's get the hell out of here."

Allie wasn't going to argue with Dean. She was more than happy to find a way out of town before Lilith showed up.

"No," Sam protested.

Dean threw down the shirt he'd been about to pack away in his duffel. "Lilith will slaughter you."

"Maybe she will, maybe she won't."

"So you think you can take her?"

"Only one way to find out, Dean, and I say bring her on."

"Are you absolutely insane!" Allie asked.

"You think I'll do it, don't you?" Sam asked. "You think I'll go dark side."

"Yes," Dean and Allie replied together.

""You're already well on your way there, Sam," Allie said. "I mean, the things you've been doing lately? You're on a slippery slope."

"I know," Dean said. "About how you ripped Alistair apart like it was nothing, like you were swatting a fly. Cas told me."

"What else did he tell you?"

"Nothing I don't already know. That you've been using your psychic crap and getting stronger. We just don't why and we don't know how."

"It's not what you think."

"Then what is it, Sam, because I'm at a total loss." Sam didn't reply. Dean, angry, walked over the bed, picked up his duffel, and walked back toward the door. He stopped halfway there and turned back to Sam. "Are you coming or not?"

"No," Sam said.

Allie, duffel in hand, joined Dean, who turned back to the door. He threw the bag down hard on the chair before walking out of the room. Allie looked back at Sam, shaking her head, before tossing her own bag aside. She followed Dean out to the vending machine. He didn't notice her walk up as he slammed his hand against the machine. He turned so that his back was to Allie.

"Well, I feel stupid for doing this," he said into the night. "But I am fresh out of options. So please…" He lifted his arms out at his sides. "…I need some help. I'm praying, okay? Come on, please."

Allie jumped as Cas appeared between her and Dean.

"Prayer is a sign of faith," the angel said.

Dean turned around, taking in first sight of Cas, then Allie a few feet behind.

"This is a good thing, Dean," the angel continued, moving forward toward Dean.

"So does that mean you'll help me?" Dean asked.

"I'm not sure what I can do."

"Drag Sam out of here now, before Lilith shows up."

"It's a prophecy." Cas shook his head, wondering how he would get Dean to understand that what Chuck saw was going to happen, one way or another. "I can't interfere.:

"You have tested me and thrown me every which way," Dean said. Cas looked away, uncomfortable. "And I have never asked for anything. Not a damn thing. But now I'm asking. I need your help. Please."

Castiel looked Dean in the eye. "What you're asking…It's not within my power to do."

"Why, because it's divine prophecy?"

"Yes."

"So what, we're just supposed to sit around and wait for it to happen?" Dean asked, his voice rising.

"Dean, calm down," Allie said coming up beside her brother.

"I'm sorry," Cas said looking down at Allie.

"Screw you," Dean responded.

"Dean," Allie scolded as Cas hung his head.

"You and your mission," Dean continued. "Your God. If you don't help me now, then when the time comes and you need me…don't bother knocking."

As Dean brushed past him, an idea suddenly occurred to Cas. Maybe there was a way he could help after all. "Dean," he said. "Dean."

"What?"

Cas turned around, feeling more hopeful. "You must understand why I can't intercede. Prophets are very special. They're protected."

"I get that," Dean snapped.

"If anything threatens a prophet, anything at all…an archangel will appear to destroy that threat. Archangels are fierce. They're absolute. They're Heaven's most terrifying weapon."

"And these archangels, they're tied to prophets?"

"Yes."

"So if a prophet was in the same room as a demon…"

"Then the most fearsome wrath of Heaven would rain down on that demon. Just so you understand…" He rolled his eyes toward the Heavens. "…why I can't help."

"Thanks, Cas," Dean replied.

"Good luck."

The angel had barely disappeared before Dean and Allie were both rushing toward the Impala.

* * *

Chuck was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, drink in hand, when Dean and Allie burst in the door.

"What are you doing here?" he said. "I didn't write this."

"That's the idea," Allie said.

"Come on," Dean said. He took the drink from Chuck's hand and pulled him up off the couch. "We need you to come with us."

"What? Where?"

"To the hotel, where Sam is."

"That's where Lilith is."

"Yeah, exactly. We need you to stop her."

"Are you insane?" Chuck asked, yanking his arm away from Dean's grasp. "Lilith? I know what she's capable of, Dean. I wrote her."

"Chuck, it's not what you think," Allie said, trying to play good cop to Dean's bad cop.

"Listen to me," Dean said. "You have an archangel tethered to you, okay? All you gotta do is show and Lilith gets smoked."

"But I haven't seen that yet. The story-"

"Chuck, please," Allie pleaded. "This is our only shot at stopping this bitch."

"But…I'm just a writer."

"This isn't just a story anymore, man," Dean shouted. "This is real and you're in it. Now, I need you to get off your ass and fight."

Chuck took a few steps forward, moving past Dean. Allie was sure he had been convinced.

"Come on, Chuck," Dean encouraged.

Chuck turned around. "No frigging way."

"Okay, well, then how about this," Dean said, moving toward the other man. "I've got a gun in my pocket and if you don't come with us, I'll blow your brains out."

Normally, Allie would have objected to Dean resorting to threats, but under the circumstances, she was about to do the same. This was their only hope of saving Sam.

"I thought you said I was protected by an archangel?"

"Well, interesting exercise. Let's see who the quicker draw is."

Chuck stared at Dean, his mouth open, but no sound escaped.

"Please, Chuck," Allie pleaded. "We need you."

"Okay," he replied reluctantly with a sigh.

* * *

When Dean kicked in the door of the motel room, Lilith was on top of Sam, Ruby's knife in her hand, raised and ready for the kill.

Chuck rushed inside. "I am the prophet, Chuck," he squeaked.

"You've got to be joking," Lilith complained as she stood up.

"Oh, this is no joke," Dean said as the room began to shake. "You see, Chuck here's got an archangel on his shoulder." A bright light began to fill the room when Lilith stepped closer to Chuck. "You got about ten seconds before this room is full of wrath and you're a piece of charcoal. Sure you wanna tangle with that?"

Lilith looked between Chuck and the Winchesters, and then smoked out of her meat suit. When she was gone, the room became still again.

"Well, it's a good thing that wasn't just a myth," Allie tried to joke, staring at the unconscious body of the dental hygienist that the demon had just had left behind.

* * *

The sound of the tarp flapping on the back window was driving Allie crazy as Dean drove down the road toward Sioux Falls.

"So a deal, huh?" Dean said, referring to why Lilith had shown up, why Chuck saw her and Sam in bed together.

"That's what she said," Sam replied.

"To call the whole thing off? Angels, seals, Lucifer rising, the whole nine?"

"That was the gist of it."

"Heh."

"What?" Sam asked turning to Dean.

"You didn't think about taking it?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sam and Allie questioned in unison.

"You just spent all day trying to talk me off the Lilith track," Sam continued.

"I'm just saying."

"She would have found some way to weasel her way out of it. And al it would have cost us was our lives."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Anyway, that's not the point."

"What's the point?"

"She's scared," Allie said for Sam.

Sam nodded. "I could see it. Lilith is running."

"Running from what?" Dean questioned.

"Don't know. But she was telling the truth about one thing."

"And what's that?"

"She's not gonna survive the Apocalypse. I'll make sure of that."

Allie stared at Sam from the backseat. Once again, she was afraid of who he had become, afraid of the hatred and malice in his voice. She couldn't understand what had happened to him, especially since Dean went to Hell. Once upon a time, Dean would have been the one to be ready to fight Lilith, while Sam would have been the one who wanted to wait, the one to be cautious. Allie wasn't sure when exactly that had changed, but it had and she didn't like it at all.


	23. What Makes a Family

_Here is chapter 23, finally. Sorry it is taking me so long to update, but working third shift is starting to get to me. Anyway, I will do my best to update soon. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and welcome to those who have just discovered the story. I hope you all continue to enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it._

_In this chapter, our favorite siblings are in for another surprise...one involving John's past. So enjoy!_

* * *

Allie stared out over the gray water in front of her. It seemed that their lives had gotten even crazier in the last few weeks, if that was even possible. Since they had found out about Chuck and the _Supernatural _books, things had been different. Allie always had the strange sensation that she was being watched, as if Chuck could see every move she made, read every single thought that she had. So she was extremely careful not to let her thoughts stray to a certain angel too often.

"What do you think is gonna happen?" Allie asked Sam, who stood behind her, brushing his teeth. "With the Apocalypse?"

"I know that we're going to find a way to stop Lilith," he replied. "Lucifer won't get out of his box."

She nodded, though she wasn't convinced. How could they find a way to stop Lilith from breaking anymore seals? They'd already done a piss-poor job of it.

Dean groaned from the front seat of the Impala. She turned to see him climbing out of the car, obviously not ready to be awake.

"Hey," Sam said, cheerfully. "How'd you sleep?"

"How do you think?" Dean replied. "I'm starving. Let's get breakfast."

"Where? We're like two hours from anything."

"But I'm hungry now," Dean said, sounding like a whiny child. When he was hungry, he didn't like to be kept waiting.

"There's probably still a sandwich in the backseat," Sam informed him.

Dean greedily pulled the brown paper bag out of the backseat and smelled its contents. He gasped in disgust. "It's tuna," he complained, as a cell phone started ringing, muffled.

Dean stuck his head into the passenger side window and dug into the glove box. He pulled into out the ringing cell phone and bumped his head as he stood back up. Allie stared at the phone in confusion. The small silver phone hadn't rung in more than two years, so she couldn't understand why it would be ringing now.

"Isn't that Dad's phone?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded as he flipped it open.

"Hello?" Dean said. Allie moved closer, hoping to catch the other end of the conversation. "He can't come to the phone. Can I help you?"

"No, no, no," Allie heard a male voice reply. "I really-I really need to talk to John. This is Adam Milligan. He knows me."

"Well, I hate to break it to be the one to break this to you, pal, but John died more than two years ago," Dean said, making Allie wince. John hadn't been the greatest father, but she still missed him. "Who is this?" Dean asked when the voice gasped in shock.

"I'm his son."

Allie's jaw dropped. Did she hear that correctly? She couldn't have heard that correctly. Maybe there was some interference in the connection. But Allie could tell by the look on Dean's face that the man had, in fact, just said that he was John Winchester's son.

"Dean, what's going on?" Sam asked when Dean hung up the phone a few minutes later. "Who was that?"

"He said his name was Adam," Dean replied slowly, "and he claims to be John's son."

* * *

Dean pulled into the parking lot of Cousin Oliver's Hilltop Café in Windom, Minnesota, where they had agreed to meet Adam Milligan. Dean hadn't told him who they were or what their connection was to John. He was wary and suspicious of the entire situation. Sam, of course, had hit the internet to research the kid. And Allie wasn't sure what to think. She was shell-shocked.

"Dean, look, the best I can tell, Adam Milligan is real," Sam said as Dean popped the trunk of the Impala. "Born September 29th, 1990, to Kate Milligan, no father was listed on the birth certificate. He's an Eagle Scout, graduated from high school with honors, and currently goes to the University of Wisconsin, biology major, pre-med."

Dean finished digging what he wanted out of the trunk and closed the false bottom. He didn't appear to have paid any attention to what Sam had just told him.

"Dean, you listening?" Sam asked.

"This is a trap," he replied without hesitation.

"What if it's not?" Allie asked, following Dean into the restaurant. "What if he's telling the truth? He could be our brother, Dean?"

Dean didn't respond, instead picking a table. He pulled one of the chairs around so that the three of them would all be on the same side, leaving Adam alone on the opposite side.

"Dean, I'm telling you, the kid checks out," Sam reiterated.

"Great, so he's an actual person on the planet Earth," Dean said. "Sucks he's got a demon in him."

"Hi," the pretty, young waitress said. "Welcome to Cousin Oliver's. Can I-?"

"We're actually waiting on somebody," Dean replied, rather rudely, not even taking notice of the girl.

She threw down the menus in front of them, disgusted with Dean's lack of manners.

"Thank you," Sam said politely as she turned away.

Dean picked up one of the four glasses of water and dumped it out in the potted plant in the corner behind them.

"What are you-?" Sam started. But Dean's intentions were clear when he pulled out his flack of holy water and emptied it into the glass.

"Holy water?" Sam asked quietly.

"Yep," Dean replied. "One sip of Jesus Juice, this evil bitch is gonna be in a world of hurt."

"Dean, you don't know that he actually is a demon," Allie said. "What if he's not possessed?"

"Then he is a shape shifter," he answered, replacing a set of silverware with real silver utensils.

"Dean, you're being a little ridiculous," Allie said.

"I'm taking precaution. Either way, this thing is gonna bleed. I mean using Dad as bait? That's the last mistake of its short pitiful life."

Sam stared at the oldest Winchester, his hand on top of John's journal. Allie could sense there was something he wasn't telling them.

"What?" Dean asked. "What?"

"Dean, listen," Sam said. "There's an entry in Dad's journal from January of 1990 saying he's headed to Minnesota to check out a case. That's roughly, oh, about nine months before the kid was born."

"Coincidence."

"Coincidence? Next two pages of the journal, torn out." Sam fingered the torn pages for emphasis.

"You're not actually buying this are you?"

"Man, I don't wanna believe it either. I'm just saying it's possible. I mean, Dad would be gone for week's at a time, and he wasn't exactly a monk. I mean, a hunter rolls into town, kills a monster, saves the girl…sometimes the girl's grateful."

"Which you know all too well," Allie said as Dean rolled his eyes.

"Now I'm thinking about Dad sex," Dean said. "Stop talking."

"Maybe he slipped one past the goalie," Sam said.

"Dude."

"It's not impossible, Dean," Allie said.

As she said it, the bell on the front door jangled and a young kid walked in. Allie knew it was him in an instant. He didn't look as much like John as Dean did, but their father was definitely there.

"Adam?" Sam said, and he turned to them.

"You Sam?" he asked as he approached the table.

"Yeah, uh, this is Dean and Allie."

"Hey," Adam said, sitting down. "So, um…how'd you know my dad?"

"We worked together," Sam lied.

Allie couldn't help staring. His eyes were green, exactly the same color as John's and Dean's.

"All right. How did he die?"

"On the job."

"He was a mechanic right?"

"Car fell on him," Dean said harshly.

"Hey, Adam. How you doing?" the waitress said bringing another glass of water to the table.

"Oh, I'll take that," Dean said. "I'm very thirsty."

She gave Dean a confused look and turned back to Adam. "The usual, Adam?"

"Uh, yeah, thanks, Denise."

Denise walked away, and Adam reached for the glass of Holy water. Allie held her breath as he took a sip. He sat it back down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. No reaction. Allie let out a long sigh.

"So, uh, when's the last time you saw John?" Sam asked.

"I don't even know, a couple of years."

Allie noticed Dean fidget and looked down to see him pull his gun out, pointing it at Adam under the table. She tensed and looked back at Adam, trying to act natural.

"So why'd you decide to call him now?" Sam asked.

"I didn't know who else to call. He's the only family I got."

"What about you're mom?" Allie asked.

"She's missing."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Allie said, kicking herself in the ass.

"For how long?" Sam asked.

"It's tragic really," Dean interrupted. "But if you're really John's kid, how come we've never heard of you?"

"Cause John and me didn't really know each other. Not until a few years ago, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"My mom never talked about him. I knew some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Dean demanded.

Adam hesitated before going on. "My mom's a nurse, and Dad came into the ER pretty torn up. He was in a hunting accident or something. I knew his name: John Winchester. That's about it. We're not exactly a nuclear family."

_Tell me about it, _Allie thought to herself as Sam said, "Yeah, who is these days?"

"So when did you, uh-? When did you finally meet him?" Dean asked.

"When I was twelve. My mom had one of his old numbers, and after I begged her, God, 24/7, she finally called him. God, when John heard he had a son, he raced to town. I mean, he dropped everything. He drove all night."

Allie glanced at Dean. She knew that would touch a nerve with him, especially after all that time the three of them spent looking for John when he was missing…especially after Dean had called John for help while they were in Lawrence.

"Here you go," Denise said, sitting Adam's plate down.

"Thanks," Adam replied.

"Oh, that's heartwarming," Dean said, obviously as annoyed as Allie knew he would be.

"You mind?" Adam asked, pointing to his plate of food.

"Please, dig in," Dean encouraged.

Once again, Allie held her breath, waiting for Adam to pick up the silver. He pulled the napkin out first and laid it across his lap. Allie heard the soft click of Dean's gun being cocked.

"He would swing by once a year or so, you know?" He picked up the knife and fork. Once again, nothing. So he wasn't a demon and he wasn't a shape shifter, which meant that he was likely telling the truth. "Called when he could, but still…" Dean put the gun away, not exactly satisfied with the results of his tests. "He taught me poker and pool, even bought me my first beer when I was fifteen. And he showed me how to drive. Dad, he had this beautiful '67 Impala."

_Oh, not good, _Allie thought. The fact that this kid had driven Dean's baby would not go over well.

"Oh, this is crap," Dean said finally heard having enough at the mention of the Impala. "You know what? You're lying."

"Dean, take it easy," Allie said quietly.

"No, I'm not," Adam replied.

"Uh, yeah, you are."

"I'm sorry but who the hell are you to call me a liar?"

"We are John Winchester's kids, that's who. _We _are his kids."

Adam looked between the three Winchesters. "I've got brothers? And a sister?"

"No, you don't. Look man, I don't know if you're a hunter, or what kind of game you're playing here."

"I have never been hunting in my life."

"Whatever, I'm out of here. Come on Sam, Al."

"Dean, stop," Allie said as Dean got up from the table.

"I can prove it," Adam said.

* * *

Allie could see the pain in Dean's eyes as he stared at the photograph in his hands. It was in Sam's eyes too. Allie even felt it. But they couldn't deny it anymore. It was in the in the picture…one of Adam at a baseball game with John. Dean would have given anything for John to have taken him to a baseball game. To find out that John had taken this kid, the brother they never knew about, to a game was probably the lowest blow Dean could have received.

"He took you to a baseball game?" Dean asked hoarsely.

"Yeah, when I was fourteen," Adam replied with a smile. "Dad was around for a few of my birthdays."

"September 29th, 2004," Sam said, looking at John's journal. "One word: Minnesota."

"He took you to a freaking baseball game?" Dean asked again, his annoyance obvious in his voice.

"Yeah," Adam replied, reaching for the picture. "Why? What'd Dad do with you on your birthday?"

_We were lucky if he even remembered, _Allie thought to herself, sadly. Dean scoffed. Allie could feel the tension rising. She reached out and touched his arm.

"Adam, you said you called Dad because your mom was missing?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Adam replied.

"How long has she been gone?"

"Three days."

"Who was the last person to her?" Dean asked, with a forced calm.

"Mr. Abbinanti, our neighbor. He saw her come home Tuesday night…but she never showed up to work Wednesday."

Allie felt Dean tense up again and looked in the direction in which he was staring. On the mantel was another picture, this one of John and an attractive woman, whom Allie could only assume was Kate, Adam's mother.

"Did you call the police?" Sam asked.

"Mom's supervisor at the hospital did. And then I drove down here as fast as I could." His face fell. "I should have been here."

Dean cleared his throat. "What'd the, uh-? What'd the cops say?" He forced a smile.

"They searched the house. They didn't find anything." He stuttered and fidgeted. "She wouldn't leave the house without telling anybody. It's like she just dropped off the face of the Earth, you know?"

Allie felt sorry for the poor kid. She could see that he was fighting tears. Losing a parent wasn't easy. And now, it seemed like it was probably a good thing they had met up with Adam. If Kate had just disappeared, there was a very good chance it was something supernatural.

* * *

As they searched the house for any evidence that might help them figure out what had happened to Adam's mom, they came across more pictures that included John. There was one of all three of them together after having caught a rather large fish. Allie placed a hand on Dean's shoulder, knowing it was another low blow for him

The floorboards creaked behind them, and they both turned to see Adam. Dean cleared his throat awkwardly.

"The, uh, nightstand was knocked over," he said. "Was there anything else?"

Adam shook his head. "Well, not really. The sheriff said there's no sign of a break-in."

_Yeah, there probably won't be, _Allie said to herself.

"What? You think the cops missed something?" Adam asked.

"Maybe," Dean replied. "They don't have my eyes."

"You're a mechanic," Adam said suspiciously.

"Yeah, that's right," Dean replied.

"Dean, what else can you guys tell me about Dad?" Adam asked.

"You knew him."

"Not as well as you."

"Don't be so sure," Allie said. "You don't really want to know much more than you already do. Trust me."

Sam appeared in the doorway and held up a piece of paper.

"Give us a minute," Dean said to Adam, and he and Allie joined Sam in the hallway. "Talk to the cops?"

"Yeah," Sam said.

"And?" Allie urged.

"Like Adam said, no leads on his mom."

"Hm. Shocker there," Dean replied.

"But I did find this." He unfolded the piece of paper in his hand and handed it to Dean. "In 1990, there were 17 grave robberies in Windom."

"Think that's why Dad came through here?" Dean asked.

"Makes sense," Allie said.

"Check it out." Sam pointed at the picture that accompanied the headline. Allie looked closer at the black and white image. It was fuzzy, but there was no doubt that the figure in the background was John Winchester.

"Alright, so he was hunting something," Dean stated. "What?"

"No idea," Sam replied. "Those were the pages he tore out of the journal. But last month, the corpse snatching started up again. Uh, three bodies from the local cemetery."

"So whatever he was after, he didn't kill it," Dean said. "It's back."

"And what, it stepped its game up to fresh meat?" Sam inquired.

"You don't think a supernatural grave robber had something to do with Adam's mom?" Allie asked quietly.

"She's not the only one missing," Sam said handing another piece of paper to Dean, this one a picture of a bald man with glasses. "So is the local bartender. A guy named Joe Barton."

Without another word, Dean turned around and went back into the bedroom, where Adam was sitting on his mom's bed. He held up the picture of the missing bartender. "Hey, does your mom know Joe Barton?"

"I don't think so. Why?" Adam replied.

Dean started walking toward the bed, ducking his head. Apparently, his eyes had indeed picked up something the cops hadn't.

"What is it?" Adam asked. He stood up as Dean crouched down next to the bed.

"Watch out," Dean told him. He got down on his knees and looked under the bed. He sighed and stood back up. "Help me with the mattress." Dean and Adam pulled the mattress off the bedframe. Underneath was an air vent, plenty big enough for a person to fit through, and there were scratches on the floor next to it.

Sam and Dean looked at each other and each raised a fist for rock-paper-scissors. They knew better than to even consider asking Allie. She would barely make it into the vent before having a panic attack from claustrophobia. Demons and monsters she could handle, small spaces she could not. As always, Dean threw scissors, so Sam, as always, threw rock. Dean threw his arms in frustration.

"Every time," he complained.

Sam and Allie gave each other amused glances. Anyone else would have learned years ago to anything but scissors, but not Dean.

When Dean reemerged from the vent, Allie could tell by the look on his face that the situation had just taken a turn for the worst. One look from her brother told her that he had found something in that vent, something very bad.

* * *

_PS: I know Adam's eyes are actually blue, but I thought it would make it more obvious that he was John's son if he had green eyes! Thanks for reading!_


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